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or\ 


THE    CHRIST    WE    FORGET 


OCT  4  1917 

CHRIST  WE  FORGET: 


THE 


A  LIFE  OF  OUR  LORD  FOR  MEN 
OF  TO-DAY 


BY 


P.  WHITWELL  WILSON 


"  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  will  draw  all 
men  unto  Me  " 


New  York  Chicago  Toronto 

Fleming    H.    Revell    Company 

London  and  Edinburgh 


Copyright,  1917,  by 
FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 


New  York:  158  Fifth  Avenue 
Chicago:  17  N.  Wabash  Ave. 
Toronto :  25  Richmond  St.,  W. 
London :  21  Paternoster  Square 
Edinburgh:    100    Princes    Street 


A  Gift  to  my  Wife^  to  Whose 
Patient  and  Forbearing  Devotion^ 
under  Providence,  is  due  Whatever 
of  Faith  and  Hope  and  Love  may 
be    discoverable    in     these     Pages 


Strong  Son  of  God,  immortal  Love, 

Whom  wc,  that  have  not  seen  Thy  face, 
By  faith,  and  faith  alone,  embrace, 

Believing  where  we  cannot  prove ; 

*  «  *  *  * 

Thou  seemest  human  and  divine, 

The  highest,  holiest  manhood,  Thou : 
Our  wills  are  ours,  we  know  not  how ; 

Our  wills  are  ours,  to  make  them  Thine. 


INTRODUCTION 

BEFORE  the  war,  it  seemed  almost  unnecessary  to 
find  time  for  the  Bible.  Many  of  us  were  making 
money,  others  were  busily  earning  it.  Our  children 
were  getting  on  nicely  at  school.  Certainly  there  were 
grave  evils,  like  drink,  and  bitter  social  inequalities, 
and  rancorous  political  quarrels,  and  reckless  extrava- 
gances, which  gave  us  uneasy  twinges  of  conscience. 
But  we  drifted,  in  tens,  hundreds  of  thousands,  from 
public  worship.  We  ceased  to  pray.  We  quietly  laid 
aside  the  Bible. 

Then — suddenly — we  were  brought  face  to  face 
with  facts  which  we  had  forgotten.  One  of  those 
facts  was  Death — another  was  Pain — another  was 
Hatred — another  was  National  Duty — another  was 
Suspense.  We  learnt  that  life  is  not  a  game,  but  a 
grim,  heroic  combat  between  good  and  evil. 

For  this  crisis,  we  found  that  we  were  unprepared. 
Men  and  women  fled  for  refuge,  in  some  cases,  to 
spiritualism,  crystal-gazing,  and  fortune-telling. 
Pleasure  and  Romance  played  their  part  as  com- 
forters. Lives  that  had  been  frivolous  were  conse- 
crated to  war  work.  And  there  was  the  growing 
splendor  of  national  unity  and  personal  sacrifice. 
Hopes  of  a  better  dawn  have  encouraged  us.  We  are 
sure  that  Faith  will  return. 

Yes — but  Faith  in  what?  Faith  in  Whom?  In 
our  hearts,  we  know  that  we  want  something  far 
deeper  than  Treaties  and  someone  far  stronger  than 


X  INTRODUCTION 

Sovereigns  and  Statesmen.  We  need  a  revival — a 
new  birth  of  life — a  resurrection. 

How  is  this  to  come  about?  Over  and  over  again, 
nations  have  revived  by  reading  the  forgotten  Bible. 
It  was  so  even  in  the  reign  of  old  Josiah.  And  again 
it  was  so  in  Ezra's  time.  Our  Blessed  Saviour  Him- 
self, when  He  was  on  earth,  read  the  Bible  and  based 
His  teaching  and  His  conduct  upon  it.  So  did  His 
Apostles.  So  did  the  Reformers,  the  Puritans,  and  the 
Methodists,  and  so  do  missionaries  the  wide  world 
over.  Don't  worry  about  clergy  and  churches.  Let 
them  go  their  own  way — at  any  rate,  for  the  moment. 
Read  and  know  the  Bible,  and  all  else,  including  public 
worship,  will  fall  into  its  place. 

Read  it  with  your  own  eyes.  Why  should  you  be 
enslaved  any  longer  by  destructive  criticisms,  usually 
made  in  Germany,  where,  as  we  now  know,  the  sim- 
plest diplomatic  document  can  be  perverted  and  mis- 
represented by  the  very  scholars  who,  for  thirty  years, 
have  dictated  unto  us  our  theology?  I  don't  believe, 
and  I  never  did  believe,  one-hundredth  part  of  the  in- 
vertive  hypotheses  by  which  the  Bible  has  been  sur- 
rounded and  obscured.  By  their  fruits  we  know  them. 
Read  the  Book  for  yourself,  make  it  your  own,  set 
apart  the  time  to  do  so,  and  you  will  find  Someone 
who  will  be  a  very  present  help  to  you  in  trouble. 

Unless  I  am  mistaken,  if  you  read  with  perseverance 
and  resolution,  you  will  discover  things  in  the  Bible 
about  which  you  will  want  to  talk  to  others.  That 
was  my  own  situation,  and  thus  it  is  that  you  have  these 
pages.  Your  difficulties,  doubtless,  are  not  mine.  I 
dare  say  that  you  know  more  about  the  Bible  than 
I  do,  and  that  your  life  has  been  far  more  consistent 
than  mine   with   our   Saviour's  teaching.     But  you 


INTRODUCTION  xi 

cannot  owe  Him  a  greater  debt,  for  no  debt  could  be 
greater,  and  you  may  see  in  these  pages  how  many  are 
the  questions  which  He  answers  in  the  Gospels,  how 
near  He  is  to  us  all  if  only  we  will  approach  Him 
through  the  Scriptures,  how  ready  He  is  to  speak  to 
us  through  His  recorded  words,  how  willing  to  uplift 
us  as  He  uplifted  those  who  came  to  Him.  As  you 
read  these  forty-two  chapters — which  are  mere 
glimpses — you  will  probably  say  to  yourself :  *'  I 
could  put  that  much  better — why,  he  has  forgotten 
this  and  that  and  the  other  " — or  even:  "  He  is  quite 
mistaken  there."  Well,  be  it  so.  Tell  your  own 
story  in  your  own  way;  it  will  help  you  and  it  will 
help  others.  For  it  is  clear  that  we  want  somebody 
to  give  us  what  has  been  called  "  the  sense  "  of  a 
Bible — that  is,  an  invitation  to  the  Book — in  words 
that  may  spread  from  every  Free  Library — Sunday 
School — Brotherhood — Mission — Rectory  —  Manse — 
in  the  country — yes,  and  even  throughout  the  world. 
We  must  all  long  for  the  time  when,  once  more,  this 
same  Jesus  who  died  shall  be  known  again  among 
men,  not  as  a  Crucifix  merely,  or  as  a  Shadow,  but 
in  all  His  fullness  of  love,  of  power,  of  wisdom,  of 
suffering,  and  of  victory.  Far,  far  happier  would  be 
both  homes  and  hearts.  There  would  be  more 
laughter  amongst  us  as  of  children;  better  pictures; 
a  nobler  literature;  more  wholesome  pleasures;  and  a 
grand  outburst  of  missionary  enterprise. 

Well — this  book  now  belongs  to  you.  Take  what 
helps;  pardon  the  rest;  and  may  you  find  Him  who 
is  the  Friend  of  friends. 


CONTENTS 


I  FAGB 

The  Blended  Picture i 

The  Unreported  Christ — The  Gospels  and  their  Writ- 
ers— The  Fourfold  Portrait. 

II 

The  Ancestry  of  Christ 9 

The    Prophets    and    Christ — Christ   the   Revealer   of 
God — The  Two   Genealogies. 

Ill 

Mary,  the  Virgin  Mother  17 

The    Annunciation — Mary    and    Christ — A    Mother's 
Influence. 

IV 

The  First  Christmas 25 

Bethlehem  of  Judea — "  Lying  in  a  Manger  " — Christ 
within. 

V 

The  First  Rejection 33 

The  Angel  Mission — The  Homage  of  Science — Anna, 
the  Widow. 

VI 

John,  the  Forerunner 42 

The  Last  of  the  Ascetics — Temple  and  Synagogue — 
Priests  and  Rabbis. 

VII 

Herod — the  Rival 49 

Jacob  and  Esau — "  A   Monster  of   Iniquity  " — Christ 
and  the  Children — The  Children's  Charter. 

VIII 

From  Egypt  to  Galilee  57 

The  Doom  of  Egypt — The  Return  to  Nazareth — Books 
of  Life  and  Death. 

IX 

The  Education  of  Jesus 64 

Arithmetician — The  Practical  Observer — Outdoor  Life, 
xiii 


xiv  CONTENTS 

X  PAGE 

Christ  the  Questioner  72 

Resolver     of     Perplexities — "  Things     added  " — The 
Practice  of   Obedience. 

XI 

Christ  in  the  Congregation 80 

John  the  Baptist — The  Kingdom  of  Heaven — Known 
by  Fruit. 

XII 

The  Generation  of  Vipers 87 

Within    and    Without — "  They    say    and    do    not " — 
Essential  Distinctions — One  is  your  Master. 

XIII 

Christ  and  Finance 95 

Christ's    Mode    of    Living — Co-workers    with    God — 
Dives  and  Lazarus. 

XIV 

Greater  than  the  Greatest 102 

John  the  Baptist  and  Christ — Resurrection,  not  Trans- 
migration— Modern  Application  of  John's  Teaching. 

XV 

The  Baptism  OF  the  Redeemer no 

The  Sinless  Saviour — The  Dove  and  the  Lamb — The 
Insight  of  Christ. 

XVI 

The  Redeemer  is  Tempted 117 

Forty  Days  in  the  Wilderness — Answering  Temptation 
— The  Enemy's  Sleepless  Hostility. 

XVII 

The  Threefold  Cord 124 

Two  "Ifs" — Two  Trinities — The  Heavenly  Bread. 
XVIII 

On  the  Pinnacle  of  the  Temple 131 

The  Way  of  Salvation — Christ  the  Hero— Christ  and 
Bravado. 

XIX 

He  leaves  the  Wilderness  137 

"  One  Unalterable  Magna  Charta  " — The  Wiles  of  the 
Devil — Christ  and  the  Scriptures — Worship  First. 

XX 

The  Saviour  and  the  Multitude 144 

Sought    by    all    Classes — Popularity    and    Success — 
"  Mapy  "  and  "  Few." 


CONTENTS  XV 

XXI  PAGE 

The  Judge  on  His  Throne 152 

The  Mountains  of  Scripture — The  Legislation  of  Christ. 

XXII 

What  His  Truth  Costs 158 

Teacher  and  Pupils — Keeping  Pace  with  the  Redeemer. 

XXIII 

Our  Lord  and  His  Bible 164 

An  UnerriHg  Mirror — Old  and  New — One  and  Indi- 
visible— The  Test  of  Truth. 

XXIV 

Our  Lord  and  the  Miracles 171 

His  Works — His  Word. 

XXV 

The  Recognition  of  our  Lord 178 

God   and   Man — The   Miracle  at   Cana — What   Faith 
really  is. 

XXVI 

The  Judgments  of  Christ 186 

Conquest  by  Sacrifice — Love  and  Wrath — "  Resist  not 
an  Injury  " — Christ  and  War. 

XXVII 

Our  Saviour  and  Suffering 194 

Christ's    Works    and    the    "  Greater    Things " — The 
Divine  Procedure — For  Soul  as  well  as  Body. 

XXVIII 

The  Master  and  the  Twelve 201 

The    Commission    "  Go " — The    Snare    of    Personal 
Success — "  Nothing  that  is  not  His  best." 

XXIX 

Light  challenges  Darkness 209 

Nicodemus    in    Two    Parts — Christ's    Prudence    and 
Tact — Christ   and    Miracle. 

XXX 

Rebels  against  the  Divine  217 

The  Way  to  God  Open — Lord  of  the  Sabbath — The 
Word  was  God. 

XXXI 

The  Indictment  against  our  Saviour 225 

Wanted,  a  Man ! — Christ  and  Home  Life — The  Worm 
and  the  Fire. 


xvi  CONTENTS 

XXXII  PAGE 

Denied  and  Betrayed 233 

The  Bequest  of  Christ — A  Missed  Opportunity — The 
Seen  and  the  Unseen. 

XXXIII 

His  Royal  Entry 241 

Joshua    and    Jesus  —  An    Ass    with    a    Colt  —  The 
Triumphant  Christ — "  His  Last  Few  Nights." 

XXXIV 

Bethany  !    Farewell 249 

The  Alabaster  Box—"  At  the  Table  with  Him." 

XXXV 

The  Passover  of  the  Jews 255 

Lifted  Up  to  Die — The  Betrayal — Loved  to  the  End. 

XXXVI 

The  Closing  Hymn 263 

The    Upper    Room — The    Elements — The    Water    of 
Cleansing — The   Eleven. 

XXXVII 

Betrayed — Arrested — Denied 270 

Spirit  willing:  Flesh  weak — "Whom  seek  ye?" — "It 
was  Expedient  that  One  die  " — Peter's  Denial. 

XXXVIII 

He  is  Tried  and  Condemned 278 

Arrested  —  Suborned     Witnesses  —  The     Accusation 
before  Pilate. 

XXXIX 

He  is  Crucified 285 

Before   Herod   and    Pilate — Son    of   Abbas,   Son   of 
God — Life  out  of  Death. 

XL 

He  Dies 292 

"  By   this   Sign,"    Conquer — Christ   and   His    Bible — 
"  It  is   Finished." 

XLI 

The  Stone  rolled  away 298 

Setting  a  Watch — Joseph  of  Arimathea — Christ  of  the 
Past. 

XLII 

From  Sight  to  Faith 304 

Women  at  the  Sepulcher — The  Confession  of  Thomas 
— Ascension  into  Heaven. 
Index 311 


THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 


THE  BLENDED  PICTURE 

The  Unreported  Christ — The  Gospels  and  their  Writers — The 
Fourfold  Portrait. 

HERE,  in  my  room  under  the  eaves,  with  my 
mother's  Bible  before  me,  and  the  clamor 
of  history  a  mere  murmur  in  the  distance,  I  am  to 
write  for  those  who  wish  to  read,  be  they  young  or 
be  they  old,  this  outline  of  the  life  of  Jesus,  the  Christ 
of  God.  I  am  to  write  as  one  who  has,  for  himself, 
watched  great  men  and  great  events,  but  can  recall 
none  so  great  as  He,  and  what  He  did.  When  I 
think  of  the  men  whose  names  are  historic,  I  realize 
that  Jesus  stands  alone.  What  I  here  present  is  not 
a  fifth  biography  of  Him,  where  incidents  are  set  out 
in  order  of  date,  but  a  portrait,  in  which  many 
aspects  are  blended,  stroke  by  stroke  and  sentence 
by  sentence,  until  His  face.  His  form.  His  character 
are  gradually  revealed,  as  on  a  canvas.  Yet  He  is 
more  than  any  such  picture — for  He  lives  and  moves 

1 


2  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

amongst  us,  even  to-day.  And  if  this  book  teaches 
anything,  it  is  that  we  must  see  Him,  if  at  all,  each 
for  himself. 

Two  thousand  years  ago,  He  came,  conquering  and 
to  conquer.  Think  first  of  His  ambitious  humility, 
His  kingly  and  imperial  modesty.  Go  to  the  British 
Museum  and  count  the  statues  of  Rameses,  how 
many  they  are  and  in  how  hard  a  stone.  See  how 
every  Roman  Emperor  has  his  bust.  Note  the  faces 
of  monarchs  on  coin  and  postage  stamp.  Trace  the 
cipher  of  Louis  XIV  on  window  and  portal  of  his 
chapel  at  Versailles.  How  familiar  are  the  moldered 
features  of  Napoleon.  But  the  countenance  of  Christ, 
which  did  not  see  corruption — although  instantly 
recognized  by  Paul,  who  never  saw  Him  in  the  flesh — 
rose  above  this  world,  unrecorded  by  any  sculptor  or 
painter.  Not  a  photograph  remains  of  Him  who 
made  the  sun.  Yet  who,  of  all  rulers  of  men,  was  as 
ambitious  as  He?  The  potentates  of  history  built 
cities  and  destroyed  them,  changed  the  names  of 
provinces  and  lorded  it  over  the  map.  He  claimed 
the  hearts  of  men.  And  because  He  was  of  no 
reputation  among  the  classic  artists  of  His  day, 
whose  dim  frescoes  still  adorn  what  is  left  of  pleasure- 
places,  like  Pompeii,  long  desolate,  He  has  since  been 
highly  exalted.  The  reverent  brush  of  supremest 
genius  has  labored  to  reveal  the  glorious  lineaments 
of  the  Son  of  Man.  His  countenance,  faint  or  clear, 
is  known,  as  if  by  instinct,  to  us  all.  The  crude 
coloring  of  the  Armenian  altarpiece  is  one  with  the 
glowing  splendors  of  Holman  Hunt  or  Rubens,  and 
no  artist,  whether  of  the  brush,  the  chisel,  the  pen,  or 
of  daily  life,  can  honestly  endeavor  to  show  Him 
forth  without  rising  nobler  from  the  effort. 


THE  BLENDED  PICTURE  3 

The  Unreported  Christ. 

Possibly  men's  hearts  would  have  been  more  richly 
satisfied  if,  instead  of  crucifixes,  ikons,  painted  win- 
dows, and  pictures,  there  had  been  a  fuller  knowl- 
edge of  Christ's  words  and  deeds.  The  truth  is  that 
the  word  came  first — a  creative  word,  inspiring,  at 
the  outset,  the  heroism  of  the  missionary,  and  after- 
wards, the  perspective  of  the  builder,  the  colors  of 
the  artist,  and  the  harmonies  of  the  musician.  One 
need  only  compare  a  London  music-hall  with  West- 
minster Abbey — each,  mind  you,  the  best  of  its  kind 
— or  the  Madonna  of  a  Raphael  with  the  meretricious 
triumphs  of  profane  art,  in  order  to  measure  what 
modern  lands  would  have  been,  bad  though  they 
often  are,  if  the  irrepressible  genius  of  mankind  had 
been  cut  off  from  the  purifying  mysticism  of  the 
Incarnation.  Yet  the  words  of  Christ,  which  have 
thus  determined  the  fate  of  civilization,  were  left,  in 
the  first  instance,  almost,  as  it  would  seem,  to  chance. 
At  a  time  when  Emperors  of  Rome  carved  their  titles 
on  marble,  much  as  schoolboys  cut  their  names  on 
their  desks,  and  philosophers  of  Alexandria  vainly 
amassed  huge  libraries  of  clay  tablets  and  papyrus, 
with  which  in  due  course  the  Moslems  were  to  stoke 
the  furnaces  beneath  the  baths  of  that  city,  Jesus — 
so  far  as  we  are  told — wrote  only  once,  and  then  on 
the  ground ;  nor  do  we  know  what  phrase  it  was  that 
rid  a  sinful  woman  of  her  pious  persecutors,  there  in 
the  cold  portico  of  the  unfeeling  Temple.  Over  and 
over  again,  we  read  of  Him  teaching,  but  do  not  know 
what  He  taught.  Yet  no  man  who  ever  spoke  better 
deserved  a  verbatim  report.  If  Jesus  returned  to-day, 
every  syllable,  as  it  fell  from  His  lips,  would  be  taken 


4  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

down  in  shorthand,  translated  into  a  hundred  tongues, 
and  flashed,  as  the  news  of  the  day,  to  the  ends  of 
the  earth.  Each  gesture  and  mannerism  would  be 
described  with  a  minuteness  derived  from  admira- 
tion, curiosity,  or  malice;  and  I  like  to  think  of  Him 
as  One  whose  wisdom  is  unexhausted — a  Friend 
who,  when  we  meet  Him,  has  still  new  things  to  say 
to  us. 

The  historians  of  Rome,  like  Dio,  ignored  Him,  and 
He  was  content  to  come  without  their  observation. 
Knowing  the  fallibility  of  man,  He  yet  entrusted 
His  message  to  the  memory  of  those  who  loved  Him 
through  death.  He  took  no  visible  precautions  to 
secure  what  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Commons 
calls  "  the  greater  accuracy  "  of  their  reminiscences. 
He  applied  no  critical  safeguards.  He  wished  nothing 
to  survive  that  had  not  helped  someone  who  needed 
help.  And  His  confidence  in,  the  generation  that  slew 
Him  was  incredibly  justified. 

The  Gospels  and  their  Writers. 

Incomparably  the  most  illustrious  books  ever 
written  in  the  immortal  language  of  Homer  and 
^schylus  have  been  neither  Homer  nor  ^schylus, 
but  the  colloquial  and  declassical  Gospels.  Merely 
as  translated  they  have  become,  by  consent,  the 
noblest  masterpiece  of  English  literature.  They  are, 
like  Jesus,  both  human  and  Divine.  On  the  one  hand, 
He  said  and  did  these  things.  On  the  other  hand, 
they  only  come  to  us  in  so  far  as  somebody  of  our 
own  flesh  and  blood  treasured  them  in  his  heart  and 
handed  them  on. 

We  find  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  both  in  St. 
Matthew  and  St.  Luke.    The  first  report  is  fuller  than 


THE  BLENDED  PICTURE  6 

the  second,  yet  the  second  contains  sentences  not 
inchided  in  the  first.  As  one  who  has  devoted  his 
life  to  the  task  of  summarizing  speeches,  and  can 
speak  with  a  practical  experience  not  possessed  by 
any  critical  scholar,  who  spends  his  time  among 
books,  I  am  entitled  to  the  opinion  that  these  are 
vivid  and  nervous  accounts,  of  a  real  utterance,  by  a 
real  Teacher — the  very  variations  showing  that  we 
have  here,  not  error  or  carelessness,  but  the  corrobora- 
tion of  more  than  one  witness.  And  when  I  am  told 
by  German  critics  that  our  Lord  could  not  have 
uttered  the  discourses  set  out  in  the  Fourth  Gospel, 
I  appeal  once  more  to  my  own  experience.  I  have 
been  writing  some  anonymous  articles  which  aroused 
curiosity.  Not  only  have  my  friends  decided,  on  in- 
ternal evidence  as  it  is  called,  that  I  did  not  write 
them,  but  I  have  heard  already  of  one  person,  of  high 
literary  attainments,  who  does  not  deny  that  he  is  the 
author.  If  one  considers  how  literature  is  actually 
produced,  one  becomes  profoundly  skeptical  of  what 
are  called  the  results  of  modern  research.  The 
"  proof  "  is  often  merely  hypothesis,  and  the  hypoth- 
eses vary,  like  the  fashions. 

Our  Lord  did  not  inscribe  a  Koran,  to  be  learnt  by 
rote  and  transcribed  from  parchment  to  parchment, 
like  some  Abracadabra.  When  He  said  that  we  must 
worship  the  Father  in  spirit  and  in  truth.  His  only 
audience  was  an  erring  Samaritan  woman,  to  whose 
good  faith  He  trusted  with  an  implicitness  which  was 
vindicated  by  one  of  the  most  dramatic  and  moving 
dialogues  ever  incorporated  in  biography.  For  this 
reason,  we  read  the  Gospels — not  as  Wordsworth  is 
read,  in  selections,  because  all  have  been  preserved — 
but  as  a  whole,  because  all  have  been  sifted,  arranged, 


6  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

and  illuminated  by  gratitude  and  admiration,  John — 
as  he  assures  us — could  have  filled  the  world  with 
books.  In  the  result,  he  left  us  less  than  an  advertise- 
ment page  of  the  Times.  We  talk  of  the  higher 
criticism,  but  no  criticism  was  higher  than  that  of  the 
Evangelists,  for  the  crucible  in  which  they  refined 
their  gold,  till  it  was  pure  as  glass,  was  a  crucible, 
not  of  scholarship,  but  of  experience.  And  while 
there  have  been  innumerable  attempts  to  undermine 
the  authenticity  of  the  Gospels,  it  is  to  be  noted  that 
in  these  two  thousand  years  not  one  alternative 
biography,  based  on  malice,  on  superstition,  or  on 
skepticism,  has  replaced  them. 

The  Fourfold  Portrait. 

The  Gospels  are  like  quarterings  on  the  royal 
escutcheon  of  the  Saviour.  In  the  Book  of  R^evelation 
we  find  a  resplendent  symbol  of  His  glowing  coat-of- 
arms.  There  we  read  of  the  four  living  creatures: 
the  lion,  the  lamb,  the  human  face,  and  the  flying 
eagle,  all  singing  their  "  Holy,  holy,  holy,"  to  the 
Source  of  their  being  and  ours.  These  mystical  per- 
sonages, foreshadowed  by  the  poet  Isaiah,  have  their 
six  wings — with  twain  to  cover  the  face,  which  is 
reverence;  with  twain  to  cover  the  feet,  which  is 
humility;  and  with  twain  to  fly,  which  is  service. 
Reverence,  humility,  service — these  were  the  char- 
acteristics of  the  biographers,  who,  writing  anony- 
mously, desired  no  literary  rewards,  but  set  down 
their  narratives  in  crabbed  penmanship,  as  part  of 
their  daily  work  and  worship. 

In  Mark  we  see  the  lion-like  man — active,  untiring, 
with  an  imperial  energy,  and  masterful  in  every 
impulse.     There,  at  Venice,  the  Lion  of  Mark  still 


THE  BLENDED  PICTURE  7 

stands  glorious;  and  in  a  greater  empire  than  the 
Venetian,  the  lion  is  the  hall-mark  of  true  metal,  the 
exemplar  of  vigilant  courage;  massive,  not  easily 
stirred,  but  when  aroused,  irresistible.  Such  was  the 
Hero  of  Judah  and  Prince  of  the  House  of  David, 
General  of  twelve  legions  of  angels,  in  whose  crowded 
life  the  watchword  was  "  immediately." 

The  lamb — signature  of  Matthew — does  not  in 
nature  easily  lie  down  with  the  lion.  But  in  Christ 
they  are  one.  The  lamb  has  two  qualities  of  infinite 
significance:  first,  a  readiness  to  die  while  life  is  still 
unspent,  and,  secondly,  an  utter  inability  to  injure 
others.  When  Christ  was  cut  off,  He  was  still  in  His 
prime.  There  is  no  hint  that  He  ever  suffered  from 
mental  or  physical  disease.  No  one  has  ever  attrib- 
uted to  Him  the  epilepsy  of  Mohammed.  He  was 
a  perfect  victim.  And  He  died  unresisting.  Of  His 
miracles,  two  only  did  a  hurt.  In  the  first.  He  taught 
us  that  many  swine  are  not  worth  one  man's  soul — 
the  swine  being  to  Him  that  wealth  which  is  contrary 
to  God's  law.  In  the  other,  it  was  by  withering  a  fig- 
tree  that,  in  mercy,  He  warned  a  nation  drifting  to 
its  doom. 

In  Luke's  record,  we  see  the  face  of  a  friend — 
moved  by  deep,  human  sympathy.  The  appeal  is 
there  to  the  best  emotion  of  our  race.  What  man 
of  you,  having  a  hundred  sheep,  will  leave  the  hun- 
dredth to  perish  in  the  wilderness?  What  woman 
of  you,  having  ten  pieces  of  silver,  will  lose  the  tenth 
and  not  search  till  she  find  it?  What  father,  having 
two  sons,  will  throw  off  the  younger  when  he  returns, 
disgraced,  from  the  far  country?  That  is  Luke's  ap- 
proach to  Christ. 

John's  is  as  the  flying  eagle,  who  rises  far  above 


8  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

earth,  and  gazes  with  keen  eye  right  into  the  eternities. 
The  eagle,  which  has  symboHzed  the  RepubUc  of  the 
West,  the  daring  exploits  of  Napoleon,  the  pride  and 
power  of  Germany  and  Austria,  and  the  great  autoc- 
racy of  Russia,  was  first  devoted  to  the  blazonry 
of  the  Redeemer,  nor  is  there  any  prestige  claimed, 
whether  for  despotism  or  democracy,  which  was  not 
His  first,  and  will  not  be  His  at  the  last.  Yet,  sum- 
ming up  as  He  did,  the  best  in  creation — the  sacrifice 
not  the  waywardness  of  the  lamb,  the  courage  not 
the  ferocity  of  the  lion,  the  zvisdom  not  the  poison  of 
the  serpent,  so  it  is  the  vision  of  the  eagle,  not  the 
eagle's  cruelty,  that  helps  us  to  understand  Him. 

Energy,  obedience,  sympathy,  vision — these  are 
what  we  find  in  Him.  We  are  invited  to  approach 
Him,  not  from  one  but  from  every  point  of  view,  and 
from  whatever  direction  we  thus  come  to  Him  we 
shall  find  that  He  will  in  no  wise  cast  us  out. 


II 

THE  ANCESTRY  OF  CHRIST 

The  Prophets  and  Christ — Christ  the  Revealer  of  God — The 
Two  Genealogies. 

WHAT  one  first  notices  in  the  Gospels  is  the 
fact  that  these  writers  did  not  look  upon 
our  Lord's  life  as  beginning  at  birth  and  ending  at 
death,  but  as  eternal,  both  in  time  and  space,  so  that 
before  all  worlds  He  was  there,  and  without  Him  no 
star  or  system  of  stars  could  have  come  into  being. 
This  was  what  they  thought,  not  about  some  distant 
and  secluded  saint,  but  about  an  intimate  personal 
Companion,  with  whose  voice  they  were  familiar; 
to  whom,  with  their  own  hands,  they  furnished  daily 
food;  whose  every  habit  had  been  disclosed  to  them. 
These  witnesses,  some  of  them  fishermen,  one  a 
doctor,  another  a  Pharisee,  another  a  tax-gatherer, 
agreed  that  Jesus  was  one  with  the  Creator,  and 
that  whatever  multi-myriads  of  living  creatures  in- 
habited w^orlds  unknown,  all  of  them — good  or  bad — 
were  as  it  were  tested  by  their  attitude  to  the  Man 
of  Nazareth.  It  was  as  if  the  biographers  of  George 
Washington  had  begun  their  story,  not  with  his  birth 
at  Bridges  Creek,  in  Virginia,  but  with  the  creation 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  the  first  thunders  of 

9 


10  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

Niagara.  He  Himself  used  a  phrase  like  "  in  the 
beginning "  with  a  significant  familiarity,  as  of  an 
eye-witness  of  those  operations  whereby  our  life  had 
its  origin.  "  In  the  beginning,"  He  would  say,  "  it 
was  not  so."  Ancient  as  are  our  divorce  laws — to 
take  one  illustration — to  Him  they  were  innovations. 
Moses  and  Abraham,  the  founders  of  His  country's 
greatness,  were  to  Him  among  the  moderns.  i 

Constant  attempts  have  been  made  to  belittle 
these  claims,  particularly  by  the  assertion  that  the 
date  of  the  Gospels  allowed  an  interval  during  which 
"  the  legend  "  of  Christ's  majesty  was  developed  by 
superstitious  followers.  But  the  world  is  ever  drawn 
back  to  a  Personage  who  with  effortless  grandeur  fills 
the  stage  of  history;  and  even  the  most  careless  of 
us  realizes,  when  he  gives  himself  time  to  think,  that 
if  Christ's  status  be  reduced,  so  is  the  status  of  all 
mankind.  Slavery,  sweating,  injustice,  vice — these 
and  every  degradation  of  our  race  are  rebuked  in 
Christ  and  cannot  survive.  Once  and  for  all,  He 
challenged  Rousseau's  despairing  dictum,  that  "  man 
is  born  free,  but  is  everywhere  in  chains."  He  lost 
His  life,  but  He  never  surrendered  or  misused  His 
liberty. 

These  ideas  about  Jesus  did  not  begin  with  the 
Gospels  and  Epistles  written  after  His  death.  We 
find  them  in  psalms  and  prophecies  which  were  read 
in  the  synagogues  regularly  centuries  before  He 
came.  Here  was  a  definite  hope,  committed  to 
writing  long  before  the  event,  that  a  Messiah  would 
one  day  arise,  who  should  save  His  people  from  their 
sins.  No  girl  in  Judea,  with  womanhood  dawning 
upon  her,  dreamt  of  marriage  without  a  prayer  that 
her  firstborn  might  be  the  Deliverer  of  Israel.     One 


THE  ANCESTRY  OF  CHRIST  11 

asks  whether  there  is  any  parallel  for  this  intense 
domestic  yet  religious  patriotism — this  wonderful 
belief  in  the  sacredness  of  children.  And  according 
to  their  faith  was  it  unto  them.  Many  champions 
did  arise.  There  were  the  Maccabees.  There  was 
Judas  of  Galilee,  whom  Gamaliel  mentioned.  There 
was  Theudas.  There  were  many  Messiahs.  Many 
mothers  hoped  that  their  sons  would  be  the  Chosen 
of  God.  The  oblivion  which  has  overwhelmed  these 
comparatively  obscure  careers  is  the  measure  of 
Christ's  unapproachable  greatness.  For  one  person 
who  can  tell  you  anything  about  the  Maccabean  Wars, 
there  are  ten  thousand  who  can  tell  you  much  more 
about  the  Galilean  mission. 

The  Prophets  and  Christ. 

Prophecies  are  said  to  contribute  to  their  own 
fulfilment.  Precisely;  that  is  part  of  the  story. 
Jesus  saturated  His  mind  with  the  teaching  of  the 
Old  Testament.  By  that  standard  He  tested  His 
entire  destiny.  We  might,  indeed,  almost  write  His 
life  from  the  psalms  and  the  prophets.  His  mother 
was  to  be  a  maiden.  He  was  to  be  reckoned  with 
the  tribe  of  Judah  and  the  royal  house  of  David. 
He  was  to  be  born  in  Bethlehem.  A  massacre  of 
young  children  was  to  afflict  that  famous  market- 
town.  He  was  to  visit  Egypt.  He  was  to  grow  up, 
unprotected,  as  a  tender  plant,  in  a  civilization  as 
unhopeful  as  the  dry  ground.  His  personality  was 
to  be  devoid  of  the  popular  graces,  and  He  was  to  be 
despised  and  neglected  of  men,  a  man  of  sorrows  and 
acquainted  with  grief.  Much  of  His  ministry  was 
to  be  devoted  to  Zebulun  and  Naphtali,  Galilee  of 
the  Gentiles,  where  the  people,  sitting  in  darkness, 


12  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

were  to  see  a  great  light.  But  He  was  to  enter 
Jerusalem  as  King,  yet  lowly  and  seated  on  an  ass. 
For  He  would  not  strive  nor  cry,  nor  lift  up  His  voice 
in  the  streets,  but  would  be  gentle  with  men  and 
persuasive,  neither  breaking  the  bruised  reed  nor 
quenching  the  smoking  flax,  until — I  like  that  tre- 
mendous until — until  He  sends  forth  His  sword  unto 
victory. 

A  follower  of  Elijah,  rugged  of  habit  and  bold  of 
speech,  was  to  prepare  His  way,  but  He  Himself  was 
to  bear  the  griefs  of  men  and  carry  their  sorrows, 
to  feed  them  like  a  shepherd,  to  unstop  the  deaf 
ears,  open  the  blind  eyes,  heal  the  sick,  strengthen 
the  lame,  and,  most  mysterious  of  all  sacred  functions, 
carry  on  His  heart  and  conscience  the  iniquities  of 
us  all.  Finally,  He  was  to  be  mocked,  scourged,  and 
killed — a  silent  and  willing  victim — not  by  sword, 
nor  stoning,  nor  by  the  gallows,  but  by  some  strange 
and  awful  martyrdom  which  would  expose  His 
tortured  frame  to  the  public  gaze — His  lips  parched 
with  thirst.  His  hands  and  His  feet  cruelly  pierced, 
yet  His  bones  unbroken.  After  betrayal  by  one  who 
was  to  eat  with  Him  from  the  same  dish.  He  was  to 
share  this  fate  with  the  wicked,  yet  was  to  be  buried 
among  the  rich,  and,  after  burial,  was  to  see  no 
corruption,  but  out  of  defeat  was  to  ride  forth  to 
victory,  and  claim  the  unbounded  allegiance  of 
nations  yet  unborn!  That  was  what  men  knew  of 
Him,  centuries  before  His  mother  first  clasped  her 
unconscious  Baby  to  herself. 

Christ  the  Revealer  of  God. 

The  one  supreme  truth  which  the  Jews  realized 
clearly  was  that  God  was  as  much  a  part  of  their  lives 


THE  ANCESTRY  OF  CHRIST  13 

as  a  river  at  which  they  watered  their  flocks,  a  rock 
under  which  they  shekered  themselves  from  the  sun, 
or  their  friends  and  their  enemies.  But  John,  who 
wrote  the  fourth  of  our  Lord's  biographies,  declared 
that  God  is  more  than  this.  He  is  not  only  near  to 
us,  and  actively  concerned  in  our  affairs,  but  He  con- 
stantly expresses  Himself,  as  a  man  utters  "  a  word," 
so  that  color  and  form  and  movement  and  sound — 
in  sunset,  mountain,  and  leaf,  in  running  streams 
and  the  flight  of  birds — are  the  language  of  God, 
which  we,  by  our  art  and  our  enjoyment,  may  make 
our  language.  So  that  we  draw  near  to  God  when 
we  build  aisles  like  the  forest  glade,  and  domes 
like  the  sky  above  us,  and  consider  the  lilies,  how 
they  grow,  and  note  that  the  very  sparrows  are  un- 
forgotten. 

This  was  the  view  not  only  of  the  Evangelist  but 
of  John  Ruskin  and  the  pre-Raphaelites,  who  taught 
us  that  all  arts  are  to  be  tried  by  their  fidelity  to  God's 
will  in  nature.  In  Jesus,  the  disclosure  of  God  was 
more  deeply  unfolded.  The  "  Word  "  became  actual 
flesh  and  dwelt  among  us.  Just  as  in  our  own  persons, 
certain  hopes,  calculations,  ideals,  ambitions,  are,  as 
it  were,  embodied  in  our  eyes  and  ears,  the  gestures  of 
our  hands,  the  progress  of  our  feet — so  in  Christ  the 
thoughts  of  God  became  the  life  and  the  light  of  men. 
What  we  call  "  the  incarnation  "  was  not  incredible;  it 
was  inevitable.  It  follows  from  a  landscape  by 
Turner,  which  is  not  mere  paint;  from  the  flash  of  a 
diamond,  which  is  not  mere  charcoal;  and  from  this 
very  print,  which  is  not  mere  ink.  And  thus  it  was 
that  while  Matthew  traced  our  Lord's  pedigree  to 
Abraham,  and  Luke  carried  it  back  to  Adam,  John,  by 
his  eagle  glance,  pierces  the  mists  of  time,  and  flashes 


14  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

out  the  truth  that  Jesus  and  His  Father  are  one. 
The  Messiah  sprang  from  the  eternal  Godhead. 

One  detects  an  absorbing  significance  in  those 
earthly  genealogies  which  are  given  us  by  Matthew 
and  Luke — partly  because  they  appear  to  be  irrelevant. 
Joseph  was  not  Christ's  father;  he  repudiated  the 
paternity;  yet  it  is  his  ancestry  and  not  Mary's  that 
we  find  in  the  Gospels.  Doubtless  Joseph,  warned 
by  a  dream,  assumed  legal  responsibility  for  the  Child, 
and  some  authorities  think  that  Luke's  table  of  an- 
cestors really  represents  the  family  of  the  Virgin. 
Be  that  as  it  may — and  I  prefer  to  go  not  one  inch 
beyond  what  is  actually  stated  in  the  New  Testament — 
it  is  incontestable  that  Jesus  grew  up,  one  of  a  family 
of  brothers  and  sisters,  yet  Himself  under  irreverent 
reflection,  owing  to  the  marvelous  circumstances  at- 
tending His  coming  among  men.  We  remember  the 
difficulties  of  the  other  Joseph  with  his  brethren,  the 
domestic  jealousies  that  arose,  the  criminal  intrigues. 
The  only  protection  of  Jesus  against  the  humiliation 
of  what  seemed  to  be  the  bar  sinister — He  who  had  not 
abhorred  the  Virgin's  womb — was  His  utter  goodness, 
and  certain  other  memories  that  illuminated  His  birth. 

The  Two  Genealogies. 

These  long  pedigrees  are  an  illustration  of  what 
Paul  meant  when  he  wrote  about  having  one's  treasure 
in  earthen  vessels.  Not  one  of  us  to-day  worships 
Christ  because,  according  to  Matthew,  Joseph  had 
royal  blood  in  his  veins,  while,  according  to  Luke, 
this  royal  blood  was  as  ancient  as  Adam.  In  the  veins 
of  the  Hapsburgs  and  Hohenzollerns  there  is  royal 
and  ancient  blood,  but  to  neither  dynasty  do  we  pay 
our  homage.     The  very  candor  with  which  Matthew 


THE  ANCESTRY  OF  CHRIST  15 

annotates  his  genealogy  is  among  the  supreme,  the 
inspired  ironies  of  Hterature.  With  a  sure  instinct,  he 
points  out  every  blot  on  that  impoverished  yet  proud 
escutcheon.  He  tells  how  the  sons  of  Judah,  Phares 
and  Zara,  were  born  of  Tamar,  and  were  thus  of 
irregular  descent.  He  tells  how  the  mother  of  Boaz 
was  Rahab,  the  harlot  of  Jericho,  when  Jericho  was  in 
the  last  stages  of  moral  decay.  He  tells  how  the 
grandmother  of  David  was  Ruth,  the  pagan  woman  of 
Moab.  He  tells  how  Solomon's  mother  was  Bath- 
sheba,  the  wife  of  Uriah,  the  Hittite.  That  lineage, 
according  to  the  flesh,  omitted  most  of  the  men  and 
women  whose  genius  rendered  the  Jewish  race  illus- 
trious. There  is  no  Moses,  no  Joshua,  no  Samuel. 
There  is  no  Elijah,  Elisha,  Isaiah,  or  Jeremiah.  One 
might  almost  imagine  that  it  was  the  purpose  of  the 
Evangelists  to  show  how  little  of  worth  is  included  in 
the  most  exalted  peerage  of  Israel,  and  that  the  heredi- 
tary principle,  as  adopted,  let  us  say,  in  Islam — where 
children  of  the  Prophet  are  still  distinguished  by  the 
green  turban — is  not  applicable  to  a  saving  faith.  They 
teach  us  that  the  Spirit,  like  wind,  bloweth  where  it 
listeth,  on  rich  and  poor,  Jew  and  Gentile,  who  thus  be- 
come of  one  family  with  Him,  and  true  children  of 
Abraham,  when,  in  all  humble  obedience,  they  do  the 
works  of  Abraham  and  of  Jesus.  And  they  also  show 
that  our  Saviour  came,  not  only  to  share  the  glory  of 
our  race,  at  its  best,  but  to  redeem  our  race  from  the 
worst. 

Though  inaccuracy  is  not  proved,  the  pedigrees  of 
Matthew  and  Luke  are  not  identical,  either  with  each 
other  or  with  certain  documents  in  the  Old  Testament. 
At  this  distance  of  time,  no  research  can  compose  the 
discrepancies — which,  I  confess,  is  no  difficulty  to  me, 


16  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

for  I  see  therein  the  truth  that  the  God  of  the  Past  is 
and  ever  will  be  as  unsearchable  as  the  God  of  the 
Present  and  the  God  of  the  Future.  But  the  curious 
arrangement  in  Matthew,  whereby  fourteen  genera- 
tions carry  us,  first  from  Abraham  to  David,  then  from 
David  to  the  Captivity,  and  finally  from  the  Captivity 
to  Joseph  and  our  Lord,  is  indicative  of  a  deep  mean- 
ing. Seven  is  the  perfect  number,  and  in  each  period 
of  fourteen  selected  generations  you  have  successively 
— first,  the  perfect  evolution  of  political  kingship;  sec- 
ondly, the  complete  decline  of  that  political  kingship  and 
the  enslavement  of  a  people  destined  to  be  free;  and, 
finally,  the  perfect  preparation  for  a  spiritual  kingship, 
essentially  distinct  from  David's,  yet  the  fulfillment  of 
it.  The  pedigrees  may  be  in  these  days  of  as  little 
account  as  earthen  vessels,  yet  we  are  richer  with  them 
than  without  them;  because,  if  we  break  up  these 
genealogies,  as  Gideon's  soldiers  broke  their  pitchers, 
we  find  a  lamp  within  which  guides  us  onward  to  the 
truth  that,  even  in  the  most  high-sounding  genealogy, 
there  was  none  righteous,  no  not  one.  None  righteous, 
I  would  repeat,  yet,  in  addition,  none  hopeless.  Tamar 
and  Rahab  and  Ruth  and  Bathsheba  stand  out  before 
us  as  the  immortal  examples  of  the  human  soul,  rising 
by  faith  above  circumstances,  and  so  fulfilling  the 
dimly  understood  purposes  of  God, 

There  are  no  further  pedigrees  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, and  the  liberalizing  influence  of  Christ  over 
minds  narrowly  cabined  and  confined  by  ideas  of  a 
privileged  heredity  is  splendidly  displayed  in  Paul's  dec- 
laration that,  beginning  life  as  an  Israelite,  of  the  tribe 
of  Benjamin,  an  Hebrew  of  the  Hebrews,  he  counted 
these  advantages  but  loss,  and  proclaimed  to  the  Gen- 
tiles also  a  spiritual  inheritance  the  equal  of  his  own. 


Ill 

MARY,  THE  VIRGIN  MOTHER 

The  Annunciation — Mary  and  Christ — A  Mother's  Influence. 

THOUSANDS  of  artists  have  painted  their  pic- 
tures of  the  Virgin  Mary,  and,  after  much 
labor  for  many  days,  I  would  add  mine,  a  faint 
impression  in  mere  words.  Of  the  legends  that  have 
gathered  around  this  Most  Blessed  of  Women,  I  am 
content  with  one,  that  she  was  ever  dressed  in  natural 
colors,  for  so  we  find  her  in  the  composite  portrait 
which  appears  in  the  Gospels.  Joseph's  pedigrees 
were  as  stiff  as  parchment,  but  the  royal  ancestry  of 
Mary  is  only  hinted  at — in  the  Prophets,  the  message 
of  Gabriel,  her  own  song  of  gratitude,  and  Paul's 
letter  to  the  Romans — while  as  to  her  birth  and  death 
Scripture  is  silent.  We  see  her  simply  as  a  maiden 
of  Nazareth — that  turbulent  little  village  which  still 
clings  to  the  water-worn  crags  of  limestone,  whence 
gushes  Mary's  well — and  she  crosses  the  stage  like 
Melchizedek,  King  and  Priest  of  Salem,  who  was 
without  father,  without  mother,  without  descent, 
having  neither  beginning  of  days  nor  end  of  life.  As 
a  girl,  a  mother,  a  wife,  and  a  widow — the  four 
conditions  of  womanhood — Mary  was  the  long- 
awaited  daughter  of  Eve,  the  eternal  vindicator  of  her 

17 


18  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

sex,  whose  seed  was  to  bruise  the  serpent's  head  and 
dispel  the  shame  of  our  race. 

This  peasant-princess  was  devoid  of  what  is  called 
genius.  She  was  no  Esther,  destined  by  her  beauty 
to  sway  an  Eastern  court.  On  one  occasion  only 
was  she  a  poetess,  and  her  song  was  in  part  a  para- 
phrase of  Hannah's.  Elizabeth  of  Hungary  was  a 
woman  of  sincere  piety,  but  her  saintliness  turned  to 
tragedy,  and  even  Joan  of  Arc  lived  too  much  on 
visions.  But  Mary's  temperament  was  normal.  She 
was  as  orderly,  as  sensible,  and  as  capable  as  Florence 
Nightingale.  She  did  not  prophesy.  She  did  not 
preach.  She  suffered  no  martyrdom.  In  her  home 
there  was  a  steady  discipline  and  every  wholesome 
interest.  Her  vocation  was  housekeeping,  and  she 
adorned  it. 

The  Annunciation. 

One  cannot  imagine  a  girl  less  likely  to  be  deluded 
into  thinking  that  the  Angel  Gabriel  had  visited  her. 
Of  that  scene  she  is,  perforce,  the  only  witness,  but 
her  evidence  has  stood  two  thousand  years  of  cross- 
examination;  and  when  I  read  her  story,  so  candid 
and  simple,  I  cannot  believe  her  capable  of  defending 
her  innocence  against  suspicion  by  putting  forward 
so  tremendous  a  blasphemy  as  a  fabricated  Annuncia- 
tion. We  have  not  one  account  of  her  only,  but 
four.  She  was  watched  from  every  side.  She  lived 
in  a  village,  where  slander  is  ruthless.  Some  incident 
in  her  record,  some  word,  some  look,  some  betrayal, 
would  assuredly  have  dispelled  any  unreal  miracle. 
I  sometimes  think  that  if  births  did  not  occur  amongst 
us  hourly,  science  would  prove  that  birth  is  incredible. 
The  Virgin  Birth  is  not  more  wonderful  than  yours 


MARY,  THE  VIRGIN  MOTHER  19 

or  mine, — this,  I  am  told  is  the  view  even  of  the 
scientists  who  criticize, — yet  as  a  miracle  it  stands 
alone;  for,  in  coming  to  Christ,  we  must  learn  at  the 
outset  that,  as  the  Angel  Gabriel  expressed  it,  "  with 
God  nothing  is  impossible."  Essentially,  Christ's 
birth  was  different  from  ours.  He  was  born,  not  of 
blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of 
man,  but  as  a  gift  from  God,  unsought  and  undeserved 
and  free — and  in  one  of  His  earliest  recorded  utter- 
ances He  tells  us  that  our  souls  must  be  born  again, 
like  that. 

Painters  show  us  the  Annunciation  as  a  flash  of 
golden  light,  descending  on  Mary,  as  she  knelt  in  her 
quiet  and  simply  arranged  chamber.  What  actually 
happened  was  no  such  spectacle.  The  Angel  Gabriel, 
glorious  with  the  radiance  of  heavenly  service,  spoke 
to  her:  she  listened,  she  answered,  and  the  Spirit 
of  God  came  upon  her.  Mary  displayed  neither  doubt 
nor  fear;  and  her  surprise  was  not  at  the  Angel;  for, 
as  John  learnt  when  he  witnessed  the  glories  of  heaven, 
angels  are  bound  with  us  to  one  common  obedience. 
But  the  Angel's  salutation,  his  salutation  to  her, — 
this  it  was  that  perplexed  her,  for  his  words  were  like 
no  other  greeting  that  she  had  ever  heard.  For 
what  reason  was  she,  in  her  obscure  station  in  life, 
to  be  highly  favored  among  women?  She  did  not 
speak,  but  the  Angel  reassured  her,  with  the  yet  more 
tremendous  news  that  she  should  bear  a  son.  Then, 
indeed,  as  a  maiden  of  stainless  integrity,  she  was 
entitled  to  put  a  question,  direct  and  unmistakable, 
as  from  an  equal  to  an  equal.  No  girl,  betrothed  as 
she  was  to  an  honorable  and  upright  man,  could 
have  done  otherwise — and  it  mattered  nothing  that, 
while  she  was  only  a  village  maiden,  Gabriel  was  a 


20  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

favored  prince  of  heaven.  She  had  her  answer, 
brief,  explicit,  and  sufficient;  and  when  she  heard 
it,  she  added  not  one  word  about  her  own  emotions, 
but  submitted  herself  to  God,  To  me,  the  employ- 
ment of  an  Angel  as  ambassador  to  Mary  arouses 
no  astonishment;  it  was  surely  most  fitting,  for  I  look 
in  vain  for  a  man  or  woman  to  whom — in  fairness  to 
the  maiden — the  mission  could  have  been  entrusted. 
Mary  gave  way  to  no  light-headed  elation.  She  did 
not  boast  or  put  forward  pretensions.  Her  visit  to 
Elizabeth  was  in  precise  accord  with  the  Angel's 
kindly  hint.  Nor  when  she  saw  her  cousin  was  she 
first  with  her  news.  It  was  Elizabeth  who  welcomed 
her  as  the  mother  of  her  Lord.  It  was  the  unborn 
John  who  leapt  at  the  approach  of  the  unborn  Jesus. 
Mary  magnified  not  herself,  but  her  God. 

Mary  and  Christ. 

The  Virgin  was  a  woman  of  quick  decision,  of 
unhesitating  impulse.  With  what  haste  she  hurried 
to  her  cousin  Elizabeth — with  what  personal  courage, 
though  hoping  to  be  a  mother,  she  accompanied 
Joseph  when  he  went  to  be  enrolled  at  Bethlehem, 
the  city  of  David!  Sometimes  her  intensely  practical 
mind  failed  to  appreciate  Christ's  love  for  the  soul. 
She  it  was,  and  not  Joseph,  who  sharply  chided  her 
Boy,  then  twelve  years  old,  because  Ele  had  spent 
three  days  in  Jerusalem,  and  caused  much  domestic 
inconvenience,  by  questioning  learned  men  about 
things  eternal.  At  the  Marriage  Feast,  what  chiefly 
concerned  her  was  the  shortage  of  mere  wine.  And, 
at  the  climax  of  our  Lord's  ministry,  she  was  almost 
persuaded  bv  her  other  children  that  her  eldest  Son 
had,  after  all,  lost  His  reason.    Yet  the  faith  of  these 


MARY,  THE  VIRGIN  MOTHER  21 

mothers  in  Israel  was  truly  astonishing.  Elizabeth, 
in  her  address  to  Mary,  never  doubted  that  God  had 
really  spoken  to  the  two  of  them,  or  that  there  would 
be  "  a  performance  "  of  what  He  said.  The  burdens 
of  maternity  were  made  radiant  with  spontaneous 
psalms. 

There  was  no  estrangement  between  our  Lord 
and  His  mother.  When,  in  the  Temple,  Jesus  an- 
swered her,  with  something  of  her  own  directness, 
the  very  form  of  His  rebuke  drew  them  together. 
Mary  alone  knew  all  that  He  meant  when  He  said 
that  He  must  be  about  His  Father's  business.  At 
Cana,  it  may  have  been  only  the  wine  that  caused  her 
worry;  but,  again,  she  understood  perfectly  what  was 
in  her  Son's  mind  when  He  told  her  that  His  "  hour  " 
was  not  yet  come.  Although  He  had  then  performed 
no  miracle,  she  and  she  alone  believed  that  miracles 
would  be  seen,  and — this  being  her  faith,  after  a  life 
of  intimacy  with  Him — she  told  the  servants  to 
obey  Jesus  in  all  that  He  said  to  them.  As  our 
Lord's  career  was  unfolded,  Mary,  realizing  that  He 
must  shape  it  in  His  own  way,  ceased  to  assert  herself, 
but  was  ever  with  Him,  even  at  the  Cross.  There, 
with  exquisite  economy  of  words — for  these  two 
needed  no  explanations — He  resigned  her,  weeping, 
to  the  care  of  His  most  beloved  of  followers,  thus 
planning  a  home  for  her,  when  all  the  world's  sin 
weighed  Him  down  to  death.  By  that  crushing  blow 
she  was  not  overwhelmed.  The  Virgin,  whose  own 
honor  had  been  assailed  thirty-three  years  before, 
whose  ruin  had  been  almost  decreed,  shared  with 
her  Son  a  great  tenderness  for  women  accused  of 
evil.  She  did  not  criticize  His  goodness  to  publicans 
and  sinners,  but  chose  the  Magdalene,  out  of  whom 


22  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

He  cast  seven  devils,  to  be  her  companion  at  the  Cross. 
By  sending  her  away  with  John,  our  Lord  made  it 
clear  that  she  was  in  no  way  associated  with  His 
atoning  work;  and  when  He  ascended,  we  leave  her 
still  among  His  friends,  praying  with  them,  which, 
despite  all  later  teaching,  was  her  only  "  rapture,"  her 
sufficient  "  coronation." 

A  Mother's  Influence. 

To  her  illustrious  Son  she  gave  her  best,  trans- 
mitting to  Him  in  full  measure  the  native  vigor  of 
her  strong  character.  Jesus  was  brought  up  as  a 
gentleman,  considerate  of  others,  yet  able  to  rebuke 
all  liberties.  Simon  the  Pharisee  might  be  rich,  and 
our  Lord  longed  to  win  his  heart;  but  Simon  must  not 
forget  the  usual  courtesies  of  a  host,  merely  because 
Jesus  was  a  missionary  without  private  means.  Like 
His  mother,  our  Lord  insisted  on  things  being  done 
right.  The  thousands  must  be  fed,  but  they  must  sit 
in  ranks,  there  must  be  no  scramble,  and  scrupulous 
care  must  be  taken  to  avoid  waste.  Her  very  flash 
of  anger  against  Him  when  He  was  a  Boy  is,  as  it 
were,  reflected  back  in  that  astounding  capacity  for 
indignation  which  enabled  Him,  in  His  turn,  to  clear 
the  Temple  of  money-changers,  confound  the  scribes 
and  Pharisees  with  His  terrible  rhetoric,  and  cow 
His  accusers  with  a  glance.  Yet  in  His  public  work 
He  never  consulted  her;  nor  did  she  once,  like  the 
mother  of  Zebedee's  children,  use  her  position  to  seek 
from  Him  a  blessing,  whether  for  her  own  sons  or 
anyone  else.  We  left  her  praying  with  the  disciples, 
not  receiving  their  prayers,  nor  is  there  the  slightest 
hint  that  she  ever  aspired  to  Christ's  special  majesty, 
or  now  approaches  Him  on  our  behalf  with  inter- 


MARY,  THE  VIRGIN  MOTHER  23 

cessions.  St.  John  was  the  Apostle  to  whose  care  she 
was  committed  by  her  dying  Son,  yet  in  that  Book  of 
the  Revelation  which  bears  his  name,  and  describes 
heaven  opened,  there  is  no  mention  of  the  Virgin 
Mary — let  alone  of  the  Virgin  enthroned. 

Her  name  is  with  us,  as  in  her  own  day,  one  of 
the  commonest — a  name  shared  by  maid-servants 
with  queens.  It  is  the  same  as  Miriam,  who  was  sister 
of  Moses,  and  it  means  "  revolt " — one  had  almost 
said  "  militancy."  The  first  Miriam — born  a  slave 
under  that  Egyptian  terror  which  did  not  spare  the 
infants — was  devoted  from  birth  to  the  desperate 
hope  of  liberation.  Mary,  bred  under  the  yoke  of 
Rome,  was  not  less  inspired  by  a  passion  for  freedom. 
What  flamed  through  her  memory  was  Hannah's 
defiance  of  the  proud — her  passionate  belief  that  God 
would  humble  the  princes  on  their  throne  and  exalt 
them  of  low  degree.  But  in  Mary's  song  there  is  a 
more  personal  note,  a  gentler  melody,  as  if  oppression 
were  not  only  by  princes  and  the  proud  and  the  rich, 
but  were  a  more  intimate  affair,  only  to  be  resisted 
through  "  God,  my  Saviour." 

Since  the  period  of  the  Nestorians  there  has  been 
a  tendency  to  fortify  the  Incarnation  by  attributing 
Divine  honors  to  the  Lord's  mother.  Anyone  who, 
in  one  of  our  museums,  looks  at  a  later  Buddhist 
shrine,  will  there  find  a  statue  of  the  Queen  of  Heaven 
which  is,  at  first  glance,  indistinguishable  from  a 
Roman  Catholic  image  of  the  Blessed  Virgin.  Mary 
of  Nazareth  was  no  such  abstraction.  Let  us  think 
of  her,  not  as  a  pale  and  cloistered  nun,  but  as  she  was 
painted  with  broad  and  human  brush  by  Raphael, 
in  whom  were  blended  the  reverence  of  the  Middle 
Ages  and  the  freedom  of  the  Renaissance.    He  shows 


24  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

us  Mary  as  a  real  sister  to  every  woman,  unencum- 
bered by  any  crown  save  her  hair ;  needing  no  throne, 
since  she  treads  the  earth  itself;  breathing  our  whole- 
some air,  clad  in  a  generous  robe,  her  cloak  sweeping 
with  majestic  grandeur  above  her  head,  and  clouds  of 
doubt  and  trouble  rolling  slowly  from  her  feet.  Her 
Child  is  no  weakling  babe,  but  a  fine  and  healthy  Boy 
who  surveys  the  universe  with  steady  eyes,  as  if  He 
were  able,  thus  young,  to  leave  His  strong  mother's 
overweighted  arms;  and  those  roguish  cherubs, 
leaning  their  chubby  cheeks  on  their  fat  little  hands, 
smile  gaily,  knowing  well  that  a  Friend  has  come  at 
last,  who  will  make  things  happier  for  children. 


IVi 

THE  FIRST  CHRISTMAS 

Bethlehem  of  Judea — "  Lying  in  a  Manger  " — Christ  within. 

THERE  was  once  a  man,  called  the  excellent 
Theophilus,  who  thought  that  it  was  important 
to  know  at  what  precise  hour,  of  what  day,  of  what 
year,  our  Lord  was  born,  and  on  what  other  precise 
date  He  began  His  public  ministry.  For  his  sake, 
Luke,  the  beloved  physician,  put  into  his  Gospel  quite 
a  number  of  hints  about  Herod  the  Great,  and  Tiberias 
Caesar,  and  Pontius  Pilate,  governor  of  Judea,  and 
the  other  Herod,  Antipas,  tetrarch  of  Galilee,  and 
his  brother  Philip,  tetrarch  of  Itursea  and  of  the 
region  of  Trachonitis,  and  Lysanias,  the  tetrarch  of 
Abilene,  with  Annas  and  Caiaphas,  the  high  priests. 
But,  despite  this  carefulness  to  set  things  in  their 
chronological  order,  for  the  sake  of  Theophilus,  who 
evidently  thought  that  emperors  and  tetrarchs  were 
very  illustrious  personages,  we  do  not  and  perhaps 
never  shall  know  the  precise  date  of  our  Lord's 
nativity.  His  coming  was  unmarked  by  clocks  and 
calendars,  and  the  death  of  Herod  is  an  event  more 
precisely  dated.  The  birthday  of  Jesus  is  celebrated 
a  fortnight  earlier  in  the  West  than  in  the  East,  and 
it  is  certain  that  the  Christian  era  did  not  begin  with 

25 


26  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

Anno  Domini  One.  The  world  took  little  account 
of  Him  with  whom  a  thousand  years  are  but  as  one 
day. 

Yet  this  unobserved  nativity  is  now  honored  more 
widely  than  any  other  festival.  Indeed,  it  has  become, 
for  society  and  commerce,  a  season  as  unchallengeable 
as  the  tides. 

Of  the  eminent  personages  mentioned  to  the  ex- 
cellent Theophilus,  not  one  now  interests  mankind. 
We  only  remember  the  birthday  of  Herod  Antipas 
because  it  was  the  occasion  of  a  wicked  murder.  But 
if  you  were  to  abolish  the  birthday  of  Christ,  you 
would  inflict  on  mere  trade  a  loss  only  to  be  reckoned 
in  hundreds  of  millions  sterling. 

Bethlehem  of  Judea. 

Jesus  was  born  in  Bethlehem,  "the  House  of 
Bread,"  the  granary  of  the  promised  land,  where  Ruth, 
the  stranger,  gleaned  the  golden  corn  that  was  without 
money  and  without  price,  and  David  refused  to  drink 
from  the  everlasting  well  the  water  for  which  brave 
men  jeopardized  their  life's  blood.  Bethlehem  was 
the  home  of  the  boy  who,  defending  his  sheep  from 
the  lion  and  the  bear,  could  sing  that  the  Lord  was 
his  shepherd;  and,  by  remembering  Bethlehem,  we 
understand  how  it  was  that  our  Lord  also  became 
the  Good  Shepherd  who  resisted  the  thieves  and  the 
robbers,  and  offered  Himself  as  the  daily  Bread  of 
Life,  promising  to  us,  at  the  cost  of  His  heart's  blood, 
a  well  of  living  water,  ever  springing  up  within  us  unto 
everlasting  life.  He  loved  the  traditions  of  His 
birthplace,  and  thought  less  of  David's  bloodstained 
crown — which,  indeed,  He  never  mentioned  except  to 
refuse  it — than  of  David's  belief  in  God's  care,  which 


THE  FIRST  CHRISTMAS  27 

led  him,  when  a  fugitive,  to  take  the  shewbread 
itself. 

What  brought  the  unborn  Messiah  to  Bethlehem  was 
a  Roman  census,  the  claim  of  Caesar  from  which  none 
of  us  can  escape — a  claim  not  to  bless  but  to  burden, 
not  to  give  but  to  tax,  not  to  help  but  to  govern,  not 
to  save  but  to  slay — which  claim  was  yet  overruled 
for  our  salvation.  To  Caesar,  the  world  consists  of 
rich  people  and  poor  people,  who  may  be  made  liable 
for  tribute  money  and  possibly  for  military  service; 
but  in  our  Lord's  more  searching  census — the  Lamb's 
Book  of  Life  that  is  never  out  of  date — the  hungry 
and  the  thirsty  are  enrolled,  the  pure  in  heart,  the 
heavy-laden,  and  the  martyrs.  The  Roman  census 
left  Jesus  without  a  home  or  protection.  It  did  not 
matter  to  the  Emperor  what  became  of  Him  or  of 
any  other  baby,  and  He  nearly  fell  a  victim  to  a 
massacre  more  ruthless  even  than  the  mortality  of 
infants  that  has  continued  ever  since. 

The  Holy  Family  went  to  the  inn.  In  the  olden 
days,  Bethlehem  had  been  a  place  where  a  lonely 
Moabitish  widow,  like  Ruth,  was  secure  from  insult 
and  want;  but  the  hospitality  by  which  good  men 
sometimes  entertained  angels  unawares  had  decayed, 
and  Joseph  must  needs  make  his  way  to  a  public 
khan.  Ingenious  people  suggest  that  this  khan  was 
the  very  house  of  Boaz  which,  they  say,  was  the  home- 
stead that  David  granted  to  Chimham,  the  son  of  that 
generous  friend  in  distress,  Barzillai  the  Gileadite,  and 
that  afterwards  became  the  caravanserai  from  which 
the  reluctant  Jeremiah  set  forth  with  the  Jews  who 
sought  exile  in  Egypt.  If  the  inn  of  Bethlehem  was 
really  the  farmhouse  of  Boaz,  then  it  follows  that 
Jesus  was  turned  away  from  His  ancestral  home,  and 


28  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

denied  even  a  cradle  in  His  own  patrimony.  Certain 
it  is  that  almost  the  only  inn  mentioned,  either  in 
Old  or  New  Testament,  was  this  inn  at  Bethlehem, 
and  that  in  Jeremiah  the  reference  is  curiously  exact. 

Jesus  did  not  forget  that  when  He  was  born  He 
had  nowhere  to  lay  His  head.  Possibly  He  foresaw 
that  there  never  would  be  much  room  for  Him  in  an 
inn,  whether  ancient  or  modern;  for  when  He  sent 
forth  His  disciples  on  their  mission,  He  did  not  tell 
them  to  book  a  bedroom  at  an  hotel,  but  directed  them 
to  seek  out  the  old-time  hospitality  on  which  Elijah 
and  Elisha  depended.  So  far  as  we  know,  He  never 
slept  in  an  inn,  but  visited  homes  like  that  of  Martha 
and  her  sister  Mary,  which  was  also  the  practice  of 
Paul  on  his  journeys.  The  very  existence  of  the 
modern  hotel  is  a  symptom  that  the  home  has  failed; 
and  if  our  homes  were  what  they  should  be,  there 
would  be  less  need  for  restaurants  and  public-houses. 
When  the  perfect  city  is  built,  there  will  be  no  tavern 
therein,  but  many  mansions,  where  every  traveler 
may  freely  find  a  place  that  he  can  call  his  own. 

In  the  meantime,  He  tells  us  that  it  will  be  more 
tolerable  for  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  in  the  day  of 
judgment  than  for  those  cities  which  deny  hospitality 
to  those  who  come  in  His  name.  And  in  the  parable 
of  the  Good  Samaritan  the  condemnation  of  Jericho 
lay  precisely  in  this — that  the  wounded  traveler 
had  to  be  accommodated,  not  in  a  freely  offered  home, 
but  in  the  inn,  at  twopence  a  day,  with  further  pay- 
ment for  any  extra  expenses.  If  we  only  lend  to 
those  who  are  sure  to  repay,  then  Jesus  asks  us, 
What  thank  have  we?  The  Gentiles,  who  make  no 
profession  of  religion,  do  that.  And  if  we  invite  to 
our  dinner-parties  only  those  who  will  ask  us  in  return, 


THE  FIRST  CHRISTMAS  29 

once  more,  What  thank  have  we?     Neglected  Him- 
self, it  is  for  the  neglected  that  He  thus  pleads. 

"  Lying  in  a  Manger." 

The  stable  has  disappeared,  only  to  be  modernized, 
so  that  for  Italy  it  becomes  an  Italian  scene,  and  for 
Flanders  a  bit  of  the  Flemish.  The  Ancient  of  Days 
thus  rises  amongst  us  clad  in  our  own  garments  and 
influencing  our  own  customs.  Doubtless  the  stable 
was  a  humble  refuge,  but  at  least  it  was  not  a  cage 
nor  a  jungle.  As  that  quiet  painter,  Sidney  Cooper, 
knew  so  well,  the  animal  life  of  a  stable  is  disciplined 
and  obedient,  lacking  entirely  the  tiger-like  ferocity 
of  lust  or  the  snakish  uncleanliness  of  vice.  This  was 
why  the  angels  could  sing  of  glory  to  God  in  the 
highest  when  God's  glory  lay  among  the  cattle,  for 
it  is  not  the  hard  and  dirty  hand,  but  the  hard  and 
dirty  heart,  that,  like  the  wild  beasts  in  the  desert, 
leaves  Christ  an  hungered  and  alone  with  the  Devil. 
Ever  mindful  of  His  birth  among  the  oxen.  He  was 
the  friend  of  those  that  labor  and  are  heavy-laden, 
and  would  give  them  rest.  He  would  make  their 
yoke  easy  and  their  burden  light.  And  He  began 
life  by  trusting  Himself  entirely  to  those  who  work 
humbly  for  their  humble  living. 

Let  us  look  at  Him  as  He  lay  in  the  manger.  There 
was  no  halo  about  His  head,  nor  miracle  other  than 
the  miracle  of  His  babyhood.  The  inn  filled  and 
emptied,  as  travelers,  knowing  nothing  of  the  Saviour 
close  by,  came  and  went.  It  might  have  been  your 
own  little  babe  in  his  cot,  the  one  you  love — possibly 
the  one  you  lost;  yet  on  that  delicate  and  helpless 
shoulder  rested,  as  Isaiah  foresaw,  not  the  consolation 
merely,  nor  the  salvation,  but  the  government  of  the 


80  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

universe.  I  have  been  reading  of  a  Buddhist  "  in- 
carnation "  in  which  an  old  man  was  born  with  a 
white  beard  and  wise  speech.  Jesus  began  hfe  with 
no  language  but  a  cry,  yet  He  was  wiser  than  the 
aged,  since  His  was  the  science  of  the  nursery;  not 
statecraft,  nor  trigonometry,  nor  Kidtur,  but  love,  joy, 
peace,  and  trust,  expressed  in  order,  cleanliness,  natural 
instincts,  and  method.    As  a  little  Child  He  leads  us. 

Christ  within. 

Good  men  who  ponder  over  these  things  tell  us 
that,  somehow  or  other,  we  ourselves  are  intimately 
concerned  in  this  birth  of  Christ.  William  Shake- 
speare was  a  gift  from  God  to  the  human  race,  but  we 
do  not  read  of  anyone  suggesting  that  William  Shake- 
speare should  dwell  in  men's  hearts.  Indeed,  if  we  all 
tried  to  be  bards  of  Avon,  we  should  encounter 
stranger  calamities  even  than  those  with  which  our 
foolish  and  wicked  Europe  is  to-day  chastened.  Yet 
from  the  days  of  the  first  Christians  onwards  such 
language  has  been  constantly  applied  to  Jesus,  and 
without  any  sense  of  unreality: 

Though  Christ  a  thousand  times  in  Bethlehem  be  born, 
If  He's  not  born  in  thee,  thy  soul  is  still  forlorn. 

The  man  who  wrote  those  lines  was  Johann  Schef- 
fler,  a  Protestant  physician,  of  philosophical  mind,  who 
turned  Roman  Catholic.  At  Clare  College,  Cambridge, 
there  was  once  a  learned  person,  called  Ralph  Cud- 
worth,  who  also  held  that  "  the  great  mystery  of 
the  Gospel,  the  very  pith  and  kernel  of  it,  consists 
of  Christ  formed  in  our  hearts."  Again,  we  have 
Isaac  Williams,  the  Tractarian,  who  expressed  the 
belief  thus: 


THE  FIRST  CHRISTMAS  81 

Within  us,  Babe  divine, 

Be  born,  and  make  us  Thine. 

Be  born,  and  make  our  hearts 
Thy  cradle  and  Thy  shrine. 

The  cloud  of  witnesses  includes  John  Keble,  who 
spoke  of  our  Saviour  as : 

On  the  bosom  laid 
Of  a  pure  virgin  mind. 

While  in  his  herald  hymn,  Charles  Wesley,  the  Metho- 
dist, sang  of  Jesus,  "  formed  in  each  believing  heart." 
The  Christmas  Collect  in  the  Episcopal  Prayer  Book 
refers  to  us  as  "  regenerate,"  which  is  simply  a  Latin 
word  for  "  born  again."  And  I  like  to  think  that 
Charles  Dickens,  the  novelist,  agrees  with  those  grave 
Puritan  divines.  He  did  not  write  a  Christmas  Collect 
but  a  Christmas  Carol,  in  which  he  told  how  miserly 
and  hard-fisted  Scrooge  repented  of  the  evil  that  he 
had  done  and  began  "  an  altered  life."  In  his  relief, 
he  was  "  as  light  as  a  feather,  as  happy  as  an  angel, 
as  merry  as  a  schoolboy,  as  giddy  as  a  drunken  man  "; 
and  if  his  behavior  was  a  little  unconventional,  so 
also  was  that  of  the  lame  man  leaping  as  an  hart. 

Even  in  fiction,  we  are  thus  taught  what  changes  are 
wrought  in  us  by  the  birth  of  the  Saviour  amid  the  dull 
animal  routine  of  our  dumb  brute  existence. 

It  is  perhaps  to  be  noted  that,  even  when  they 
suggested,  years  later,  that  His  birthplace  was 
Nazareth,  He  did  not  once  correct  their  error  by 
mentioning  Bethlehem.  It  was  not  and  is  not  His 
custom  to  assist  us  by  special  revelation  in  matters 
where  a  little  inquiry  on  our  part,  with  the  brains 
that  God  has  given  us,  would  bring  us  at  once  to  the 


32  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

facts.  And  in  truth  Bethlehem  is  now  no  longer  His 
special  birthplace.  Wherever  hearts  are  willing,  there 
is  He  born;  wherever  He  is  cherished,  there  is  His 
cradle;  wherever  He  is  reverenced,  there  is  He  wrapt 
tenderly  in  swaddling  clothes  and  held  to  the  hearts 
of  men. 


V 

THE  FIRST  REJECTION 
The  Angel  Mission — The  Homage  of  Science — Anna,  the  Widow. 

WHEN  Jesus  lay  in  His  mother's  arms,  the  rich 
world,  with  its  burden  of  sickness  and  slavery, 
was  as  restless  as  a  hungry  child.  Down  the  sunset 
of  that  dying  era  slanted  three  rays  of  declining 
glory,  of  which  the  first  was  Greece,  with  her  arts; 
the  second  Rome,  with  her  laws;  and  the  third 
Israel,  with  her  religion :  while  the  gloom  of  selfish- 
ness, creeping  slowly  over  the  landscape,  threw 
hideous  shadows  of  grosser  evils.  Then  arose  the 
Sun  of  Righteousness  with  healing  in  His  wings,  and 
blended  again  these  diverse  colors,  and  so  shone  forth 
as  the  Day-Light  of  the  World,  by  which  we  may 
now  walk  in  safety. 

In  Him,  the  Arts  have  awakened  in  truth  and 
beauty;  in  Him,  Law  and  Love,  Justice  and  Mercy 
are  reconciled  by  Sacrifice;  in  Him,  Religion  is 
cleansed  of  Superstition,  Prejudice,  Pride,  and  becomes 
the  reverent  worship  of  our  Father,  by  His  grateful 
children.  Forget  Him,  and  Art,  Law,  Religion,  die  and 
harden  in  decay,  until  He  is  remembered  once  more. 

The  people  who  came  to  Him  first  could  not  read 
about  Him  as  we  can,  in  Testaments,  or  follow  His 
,       33 


34>  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

works  through  the  long  vista  of  two  thousand  years. 
Even  of  those  who  saw  Him  during  His  ministry, 
most  only  caught  one  glimpse  of  Him,  and  heard  a 
sentence  or  two  of  what  He  said.  Hence  we  find 
that  some  of  His  contemporaries,  less  fortunate  than 
we  are,  had  to  be  helped  by  dreams  and  visions  of 
angels  and  by  special  providences.  Joseph  was  a 
good  man,  who  could  not  think  for  Jesus,  but  could 
only  work  for  Him;  and  as  his  philosophy  did  not 
include  the  Incarnation,  he  had  to  be  taught  in  his 
sleep  what  he  might  have  learnt  from  Isaiah  about 
the  Virgin  Mother.  It  was  a  dream  that  saved 
Mary's  good  name,  a  dream  that  led  the  Holy  Family 
to  Egypt,  a  dream  that  brought  them  thence,  and  a 
dream  that  hindered  a  second  flight  by  directing 
Joseph  into  Galilee.  That  God  claims  man's  every 
thought,  both  night  and  day,  is  very  true,  but  we 
do  not  read  that  Jesus  ever  depended  for  guidance 
upon  dreams.  If  He  was  in  doubt.  He  won  His 
wisdom  by  hard  prayer,  which  was  His  method  of 
setting  us  free  from  necromancy,  spiritualism,  and 
every  other  delusion.  He  taught  us,  what  science 
confirms,  that  dreamless  sleep  is  best;  and  when  He 
slumbered  on  a  pillow  in  the  stern  of  a  fishing-boat, 
no  storm  could  arouse  Him.  To  the  first  Joseph, 
who  went  into  Egypt,  dreams  were  as  worship;  to 
the  Wise  Men,  to  Pilate's  wife,  and  to  the  second 
Joseph  they  were  merely  warnings;  and  this  last  of 
inspired  dreamers  fades  from  our  vision  without 
uttering  one  word  of  unaided  testimony  to  the  great- 
ness of  Jesus.  When  he  visited  Eg}pt,  we  do  not 
hear  that  he  made  a  single  convert.  Nor  did  he 
take  one  step  to  secure  the  advancement  of  Christ's 
career  in  the  world. 


THE  FIRST  REJECTION  36 

The  Angel  Mission. 

Here,  then,  we  see  the  angels  hurrying,  as  it  were, 
with  a  resplendent  rivalry,  to  tell  their  news  to  the 
shepherds,  so  that  when  one  spoke — the  first  of 
missionaries — it  was  in  breathless  phrase,  as  if,  pant- 
ing, he  had  outflown  the  others.  "  Behold  " — he  cried 
— "  a  Saviour — born  to  you — this  day — in  the  City  of 
David — Christ  the  Lord !  "  What  an  eager  message — 
not  one  syllable  wasted !  Born,  be  it  noted,  to  you 
— not  to  Pharisees  or  Herodians  or  Zealots,  whose 
brains  are  full  of  their  own  schemes,  but  to  those  who 
quietly  fulfill  their  duty  and  then  rest  content.  The 
shepherds  had  no  idea  how  close  Jesus  had  drawn  to 
them;  and  it  seems  as  if  the  angels,  by  singing  to 
them  instead  of  to  the  Babe,  were  filled  with  dread 
lest  some  humble  heart,  so  ready  to  worship  Him, 
should  fail  by  inadvertence  of  the  opportunity. 

Those  angels  who  welcomed  Jesus  never  left  Him. 
As  He  went  about  His  work,  He  was  conscious  of 
them,  ascending  from  Him  and  descending.  In  the 
wilderness,  angels  ministered  to  Him,  when  men 
neglected  Him.  In  the  garden,  an  angel  strengthened 
Him,  when  His  friends  fell  asleep.  Twelve  legions 
of  them,  more  loyal  than  Israel's  twelve  tribes,  were 
ever  at  His  service,  and  by  His  empty  tomb  angels 
stood  sentinel.  He  tells  us  that  every  child  has  his 
guardian  angel,  standing  before  the  face  of  God;  that 
the  angels  rejoice  over  every  sinner  who  repents ;  that 
they  bore  Lazarus  to  Abraham's  bosom;  and  that  at 
the  last  day  they  will  gather  in  the  harvest  of  souls, 
separating  the  good  from  the  bad.  When,  therefore, 
He  sweeps  away  the  polytheism  of  Greece  and  Rome 
and  all  other  idolatry,   He  does  not  leave  heaven 


36  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

vacant.  He  tells  us,  not  of  gods  to  be  worshiped, 
not  of  saints  who  demand  our  prayers,  but  of  spirits, 
glorious  with  the  zeal  of  obedience,  who  surround 
God's  throne  with  praise  and  service. 

And  what  was  to  be  the  sign  for  the  shepherds? 
A  miracle?  Not  at  all.  They  were  to  know  Him 
because  they  would  find  Him  in  the  manger,  the 
place  of  their  daily  employment.  He  was  to  be 
wrapped,  not  in  a  lace  robe,  but,  like  their  own 
children,  in  swaddling  clothes.  It  was  this  sense, 
that  He  belonged  to  their  class,  which  quickened  their 
footsteps  and  filled  them  with  delight.  There  was  no 
manger  in  Bethlehem  that  they  could  not  find,  for 
they  knew  of  them  all. 

The  angel  solo  was  echoed  by  an  angel  chorus,  and 
one  would  have  thought  that  a  multitude,  thus  bright- 
winged,  would  have  won  the  world.  It  was  not  so. 
They  did  not  even  win  the  shepherds,  who,  having 
hastened  to  the  Saviour,  left  Him  as  speedily — poor 
and  unprotected;  nor  do  we  read  of  one  apostle  or 
one  martyr  arising  from  the  sheepfolds  of  Bethlehem. 
No  church  was  there  founded;  and  when  Mary 
desired  an  offering  for  the  Temple,  she  could  afford 
no  lamb  from  those  flocks  which  fed  around  the  City 
of  David,  but  only  two  young  pigeons.  The  Wise 
Men  had  not  yet  come,  with  their  wealth;  and  the 
shepherds,  with  their  sheep,  went  away  without 
leaving  a  gift.  The  seed  was  sown  in  their  hearts, 
as  on  shallow  ground ;  and  though  it  sprang  up  quickly, 
because  it  had  no  deepness  of  earth,  it  withered  away. 
Yet  their  worship  served  a  purpose  which  they  them- 
selves little  suspected.  In  those  early  days,  the  faith 
most  severely  tested  was  that  of  Mary,  the  mother  of 
our  Lord.     Her  heart  absorbed  the  shepherds'  story 


THE  FIRST  REJECTION  37 

as  the  thirsty  field  receives  the  welcome  rain.  She 
did  not  ask  for  signs,  but  she  was  not  left  without 
them. 

The  angel  message  was :  "  Peace  on  earth  and  good- 
will to  men."  Peace  there  was,  for  Jesus  lived  during 
one  of  the  few  silences  in  the  Roman  world  when  the 
Temple  of  Janus  was  closed.  We  read  in  the  New 
Testament  of  soldiers  and  robbers,  but  not  of  battles; 
and  at  no  time  was  the  ministry,  whether  of  the 
Baptist,  of  Christ,  or  of  His  Apostles,  interrupted  by 
military  operations.  The  only  blood  then  shed  was 
His  blood  and  the  blood  of  His  chosen,  so  that  men 
had  every  chance  of  hearing  Him,  and  were  not 
engulfed  again  in  slaughter  until  they  had  made  away 
with  Him — the  Prince  of  Peace. 

From  that  day  to  this  wars  have  raged.  And''now,' 
after  all  these  centuries  of  wrong,  fallen  are  the  spires 
whence  rang  out  the  angel-music,  and  melted  down 
to  dull  cannon  are  the  once  happy  bells  of  stricken 
towns  in  Europe.  The  very  name  **  Emmanuel," 
or  "  God  with  us,"  which  belongs  by  sole  prophetic 
right  to  Jesus,  has  been  graven,  large  and  blasphemous, 
on  every  Prussian  helmet,  as  if  God's  presence  among 
men,  and  His  peace  which  passeth  all  understanding, 
could  be  claimed  and  enjoyed  where  the  Son  of  God 
is  dishonored.  "  Emmanuel "  occurs  once  only  in  the 
New  Testament,  in  the  opening  chapter  of  Matthew, 
when  Jesus,  still  unborn,  might  have  been  a  welcome 
Guest.  From  His  earliest  breath  His  Divinity  was 
denied,  and  somehow  the  word  "  Emmanuel  "  fell  into 
disuse,  as  if  God  could  not  dwell  with  nations  except 
upon  terms  of  unchallenged  sovereignty  over  kings 
and  peoples.  War  does  not  mean  that  the  Prince  of  ' 
Peace  has  failed.    It  means  that,  in  time  of  peace,  the 


38  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

Prince  is  forgotten,  and  if  peace  be  again  granted  to 
the  children  of  men,  woe  to  our  race  if  better  use  be 
not  made  of  it. 

The  Homage  of  Science. 

The  learned  men  who  gazed  at  the  stars  were  farther 
from  Jesus  than  the  shepherds  who  watched  their 
sheep,  but  they  also  found  Him  in  their  life-work. 
By  their  education  they  were  enabled  to  persevere 
and  inquire  and  reason  it  out,  until  they  saw  Him 
clearly;  and  the  very  fact  that  they  asked  of  Herod 
where  the  Christ  should  be  born  is  the  first  spon- 
taneous homage  of  an  exact  science  to  revelation. 
We  are  not  told  what  the  star  was :  it  may  have  been 
Halley's  Comet,  or  it  may  have  been  a  conjunction  of 
the  planets  Jupiter,  Saturn,  and  Mars;  but,  on  either 
assumption  or  any  other,  it  seemed  as  if  the  heavens 
must  needs  declare  the  glory  which  earth,  including 
Jerusalem,  denied.  Where  the  children  of  men  were 
silent,  the  very  stones — for  what  are  stars  but  stones — 
cried  out.  The  Wise  Men  approached  Jesus  with  a 
grave  and  symbolic  ceremony,  bringing  gifts  of  their 
best — gold  for  His  royalty,  frankincense  for  His 
divinity,  and  myrrh  for  His  mortality,  as  if  they  knew 
that  here  was  a  King  who  was  God  and  yet  must 
die.  We  do  not  again  hear  of  their  presents,  for  Jesus 
desired  no  earthly  regalia,  and  the  alabaster  box  which 
gave  Him  joy  was  a  broken  one.  What  was  offered 
to  Him  for  display  was  used  doubtless  to  supply  the 
needs  that  would  arise  before  Joseph  could  return 
to  his  workshop  in  Nazareth.  Like  the  shepherds, 
these  Wise  Men  departed — not  one  stayed  by  His  side 
— all,  all  are  lost  in  the  dim  mists  of  the  East,  and 
Jesus,  no  longer  attended  by  stars  and  angels,  was  left 


THE  FIRST  REJECTION  39 

once  more  with  Joseph  and  Mary.  It  was  like  the  last 
leave-taking,  as  He  turned  the  corner  of  the  road, 
from  His  home  in  heaven  to  the  earth  beneath. 

When  He  was  taken  to  the  Temple,  the  priests — 
though  warned,  as  we  shall  see,  by  Zacharias — were 
indifferent,  and  left  the  welcome  to  two  of  the  old 
folks,  not  of  the  sacerdotal  caste,  who  were  His  only 
courtiers.  As  John  the  Baptist  was  the  last  of  the 
prophets,  so  Simeon  was  the  last  of  the  psalmists,  and 
his  slumber-song  over  the  Saviour  was  a  farewell. 
Like  the  shepherds  and  the  Wise  Men,  he  also  was 
content  to  see  God's  salvation  and  depart  in  peace. 
Of  his  utterance,  since  echoed  by  uncounted  millions, 
Mary  and  Joseph  were  the  only  known  auditors,  and 
with  this  swan-song  psalmody  ceased;  but  only  to 
break  forth  again  in  hymns  of  the  Christian  Church, 
which  are  the  heritage  of  every  nation.  Simeon's 
words  seemed  marvelous  to  those  whose  eyes  were 
fixed  on  the  wee  infant  in  his  arms.  To  think  that 
such  a  Babe  should  be  thrust  as  a  rock  across  the  high- 
way of  history,  over  which  nations  should  rise  and 
fall!  Simeon  spoke  as  he  did  before  the  event;  our 
foresight  is  negligible,  because  we  merely  note  the  ful- 
fillment. And  he  saw  in  an  instant  that  the  sword 
would  pierce  the  heart  of  Mary  herself.  It  seems  as  if 
he  saw  it  in  her  eyes.  This  wise  old  man  had  not  lived 
his  long  life  in  the  Jerusalem  of  Herod  the  Great  with- 
out learning  what  is  the  custom  of  an  advanced  civil- 
ization towards  the  sons  of  such  mothers. 

Anna,  the  Widow. 

Simeon's  predestination  was  conscious;  he  knew 
that  he  would  see  Christ  ere  he  died.  Anna  came  in 
at  that  moment  as  if  by  chance.     But  the  reason 


40  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

why  she  came  in  was  that  she  constantly  visited  the 
Temple.  Her  surprise  was  the  reward  of  a  habit. 
Her  tribe  of  Asher  was  still  scattered,  but  Anna  clung 
to  her  moorings.  Widowed  after  only  seven  years  as 
a  wife,  she  had  for  eighty-four  years  found  comfort 
in  service,  and,  though  a  centenarian,  she  had  still 
energy  to  tell  others  of  the  Messiah.  Her  father, 
Phanuel,  was  remembered  in  Jerusalem,  and  Anna  was 
well  known;  but  we  do  not  read  that  either  she  or 
Simeon — though  their  witness  was  clear  enough — 
gained  one  disciple.  The  Christ  as  a  Hope,  an  Ideal 
not  yet  realizable,  did  not  capture  Jerusalem,  and 
Jesus  left  the  city  as  poor  and  lonely  as  He  entered  it. 
No  one  thought  of  offering  Him  the  advantages  of 
education  which  Paul  enjoyed.  There  was  no  scholar- 
ship or  bursary  for  Him.  Yet  how  He  would  have 
seized  such  an  opportunity  we  may  realize  by  remem- 
bering with  what  zest  He  spent  three  days,  when  a  boy 
of  twelve,  questioning  and  replying  to  the  doctors.  In 
face  of  that  eager  aptitude  for  learning,  a  carpenter's 
bench  was  the  only  University  open  to  the  Saviour. 

Jesus  was  brought  back  to  Bethlehem,  and  oblivion. 
He  had  not  then  one  follower.  He  was  not  to  win 
men  easily  by  reposing  innocently  in  a  manger,  but  by 
infinite  patience  and  suffering.  When  He  was  a  Babe, 
men  had  the  great  chance  of  showing  their  love  to 
Him,  ere  He  could  show  His  love  to  them.  He  was 
weak — they  were  strong.  He  was  poor — they  were 
rich.  He  was  dumb — they  could  speak.  He  was 
childlike — they  had  tlie  knowledge.  But  when  they 
were  called  to  Him,  they  went  their  own  way,  as  if 
something  more  than  a  cradle  were  wanted,  if  their 
devotion  was  to  be  won. 

The  day  came  when  He  left  the  swaddling  clothes 


THE  FIRST  REJECTION  41 

behind,  and  with  them  the  seamless  robe,  and  was 
exposed  on  a  cross  of  wood,  not  to  worshiping 
shepherds  and  magi,  but  to  shame  and  ribaldry  and 
insult.  Then  and  only  then  did  it  dawn  on  the  world 
— and  oh,  how  slowly — that,  if  we  love  Him,  it  is  only 
because  He  first  loved  us. 


VI 

JOHN,  THE  FORERUNNER 

The  Last  of  the  Ascetics— Temple  and  Synagogue— Priests  and 
Rabbis. 

OF  all  the  friends  who  helped  Jesus  when  He 
lived  among  us,  John  the  Baptist  alone  looms 
large  on  the  pages  of  prophecy.  Isaiah,  brooding 
over  the  too  familiar  spectacle  of  a  Babylonian  despot, 
crossing  the  desert  by  a  prepared  highway,  asked 
himself  how  the  glory  of  the  Lord  is  to  be  revealed 
amidst  this  wilderness  of  barren  ideals,  unless  some 
forerunner — some  faithful  pioneer — levels  up  the 
ravines  of  low  impulses,  humbles  the  mountains  of 
pride,  straightens  the  crooked  places  of  deceit,  and 
smooths  the  rough  places  of  anger  and  malice  and 
all  uncharitableness.  The  path  of  the  Messiah  must 
be  as  even  as  justice,  as  direct  as  sincerity,  and  as 
gentle  as  mercy.  So  must  a  voice  cry — not  a  voice 
with  a  sword  added,  which,  as  Mohammed  thought, 
might  conquer  the  soul  through  the  body;  but  a  voice 
alone, — the  appeal  of  man  to  man's  undying  spirit, 
which  demands  of  us  all,  by  universal  suffrage,  to 
vote  what  Carlyle  called  the  everlasting  Yea  or  No. 
For  behind  the  voice  lies  the  mouth  of  the  Lord, 
speaking;  and  if  our  ears  be  closed,  other  messages, 

42 


JOHN,  THE  FORERUNNER  43 

not  of  persuasion  and  warning,  but  of  thunder  and 
battle,  will,  as  Jerusalem  discovered,  enforce  our 
attention,  however  unwillingly.  One  way  or  the 
other,  men  must  learn  that  without  justice,  sincerity, 
and  mercy  there  can  be  no  Princedom  of  Peace. 

This  was  Isaiah's  message  to  a  captive  Israel, 
and  years  later,  with  Jerusalem  restored,  there  came 
another  prophet,  who  caught  a  nearer  glimpse  of 
the  forerunner.  Watching,  as  he  did,  that  once-holy 
city,  Malachi — "  the  messenger  " — was  himself  dis- 
illusioned. The  man  who  would  bring  these  people 
to  their  senses,  so  he  thought,  must  be  no  less  than 
another  Elijah,  untainted  by  temple  and  market- 
place, cut  off  from  home  itself.  Only  such  a  man 
could  turn  the  hearts  of  the  children  back  to  the 
wisdom  of  their  fathers,  and  so  avert  from  mankind 
the  smiting  curse  of  God,  In  our  Bibles  we  read  these 
words;  turn  the  page,  and  find  ourselves  at  once  in 
the  New  Testament.  But,  in  fact,  it  was  not  so. 
For  generations  Malachi's  prophecy  remained  un- 
fulfilled, yet  unforgotten.  It  was  as  if  Wycliffe  in 
the  fourteenth  century  had  foretold  a  Wesley  in  the 
eighteenth,  and  had,  in  the  long  interval,  maintained 
England  in  a  state  of  expectancy.  The  people  knew 
that  they  needed  one  who  should  deal  faithfully  with 
their  shortcomings,  and  this  was  why,  despite  John's 
severity,  there  were  many  who  rejoiced  at  his  birth. 
Now,  at  last,  so  they  said  to  themselves,  the  wrongs 
will  be  righted. 

The  Last  of  the  Ascetics. 

The  outline  of  a  man,  which  Malachi  descried 
on  the  horizon  of  his  hopes,  assumed,  under  Gabriel's 
still  nearer  vision,  both  body  and  shape.     From  his 


44  THE  CHRIST  AVE  FORGET 

birth,  John  must  be  a  Nazarite.  His  solution  for  all 
life's  problems  was  to  be  total  abstinence.  He  would 
avoid  the  social  grape.  Yet  where  Elijah  had  been  a 
mere  Tishbite,  John  was  to  be  born  a  priest,  with  a 
right  to  a  priest's  portion  of  the  people's  offerings. 
But  he  was  to  disendow  himself,  and  subsist  on  food 
which — be  it  bitter  as  the  locust  or  sweet  as  the  honey- 
comb— was  to  be  won  by  his  own  hard  hands.  Inde- 
pendent of  commerce,  he  made  his  clothing  of  camel's 
hair  and  was  content  with  a  girdle  of  skin,  traveling 
barefoot,  and  not  even  conceding  to  civilization  the 
use  of  the  razor.  John  was  thus  the  last  and  the 
greatest  of  the  ascetics;  and  if  self-suppression,  if 
monasticism  and  the  anchorite's  cell,  could  have  saved 
the  world,  John  would  have  done  it.  Where  he 
failed  was  that  his  life  was  a  rebuke  to  men,  not  an 
example  that  they  could  follow.  In  him,  the  vows 
of  monk  and  nun  were  for  ever  fulfilled;  and  when  he 
died,  Jesus  founded  no  religious  order  to  perpetuate 
his  lonely  heroism.  Evil  as  is  the  world.  He  prayed 
not  that  His  disciples  should  be  removed  from  the 
world,  but  that,  remaining  in  the  world,  as  lights  and 
cities  of  refuge,  they  should  be  kept  from  the  evil. 
He  loved  John  the  Baptist,  defended  him,  and  mourned 
for  him,  but  He  never  held  him  up  to  us  for  imitation. 
John's  father,  Zacharias,  was  priest  of  the  order  of 
Abiah,  and  his  mother,  Elizabeth,  was  a  daughter  of 
Aaron.  Sacerdotal  succession  could  be  carried  no 
further.  His  parents  are  the  type  for  all  time  of  that 
godliness  which  prays  and  hopes  and  yearns,  but  re- 
mains childless,  as  if  unable  to  hand  on  to  others  the 
tradition  of  their  own  piety.  Zacharias  would  have 
disapproved  of  any  new  theologian  who  denied  the 
existence  of  angels.     But  when  Gabriel  appeared  to 


JOHN,  THE  FORERUNNER  45 

him,  he  was  not  glad,  like  Stephen  who  saw  the 
heavens  opened;  or  calm,  like  Peter  who  was  delivered 
by  an  angel  from  prison.  The  old  priest  loved  his  re- 
ligion as  tenderly  as  he  loved  his  wife,  yet  felt  that  both 
were  past  the  age  of  bearing  fruit.  And  the  idea  that 
his  child  should  be  the  revolutionary  herald  of  a  new 
era  filled  him  with  a  doubt  which,  possibly,  he  mistook 
for  reverence,  yet  it  left  him  dumb  before  the  people 
who  needed  his  blessing.  A  punishment  was  inflicted 
on  him.  The  angel  commanded  him  to  give  his  boy 
a  new  name,  not  Zacharias,  nor  yet  a  name  reminis- 
cent of  the  family,  but  John,  meaning  a  gift  fresh 
from  the  heart  of  God.  What  it  cost  the  parents  to 
accept  this  trial,  only  a  Jew,  bred  in  an  intensely 
hereditary  atmosphere,  can  appreciate;  but  Zacharias, 
unable  to  speak,  resisted  the  pressure  of  his  friends, 
and  put  his  obedience  into  writing.  And  I  like  to  think 
that  what  saved  him  at  this  crisis  was  the  firmness  of 
Elizabeth,  to  whom  the  hope  that  her  boy  might  an- 
nounce the  Christ  was  everything  now  left  to  her  in 
this  world. 

Temple  and  Synagogue. 

When  he  had  written  on  the  tablet,  the  tongue  of  the 
aged  priest  was  unloosed,  and  he  uttered  the  blessing 
for  which  the  people  had  waited  in  vain — a  blessing, 
not  from  the  Temple  built  by  Herod,  but  from  the 
eternal  hills  of  faith  and  obedience.  Great  was  the 
multitude  that  assembled  to  hear  the  formal  benedic- 
tion of  Zacharias  the  priest  in  his  vestments,  and  went 
away  disappointed.  But  a  million  times  greater  have 
been  the  generations  of  every  clime  who,  not  content 
with  hearing,  have  themselves  blessed  God  in  the 
words  of   Zacharias  the   father — the  priest,   not  of 


46  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

Temple,  but  of  home.  It  was  not  as  a  celibate,  but  as 
a  husband,  that  Zacharias  was  filled  with  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  sang  of  deliverance  from  the  fear  which 
had  been  his  weakness. 

The  neighbors  and  cousins  were  astounded,  but  we 
do  not  again  hear  of  them.  John  grew  up  an  orphan 
and  alone,  and  it  seems  as  if  his  change  of  name  cut 
him  off  from  his  kindred.  As  there  was  no  room  for 
Jesus  in  the  inn,  so  there  was  no  room  for  John  in  the 
Temple,  which  edifice,  so  far  as  we  know,  he  did  not 
enter.  Thousands  of  clergy  thronged  the  place,  where 
they  alone  could  minister;  and  it  was  only  by  casting 
lots  that,  after  long  years  of  idleness,  they  could  se- 
cure, if  at  all,  an  opportunity  of  highest  service.  Amid 
a  world  ignorant  of  God  these  good  men  huddled  to- 
gether, cherishing  each  other's  faith  and  privileges,  but 
hearing  no  missionary  call  from  the  nations  scattered 
abroad.  Already,  in  other  cities  than  Jerusalem,  the 
synagogue  had  displaced  the  priesthood,  since  it  was 
nearer  to  the  homes  of  the  people  and  less  under  the 
domination  of  ecclesiastics.  The  reading  of  the  Bible 
supplanted  ritual,  and,  as  we  find  when  Jesus  and  Paul 
worshiped  on  the  Sabbath,  there  was  free  speech  for 
the  laity.  The  Rabbis  had  not  then  become  a  caste 
like  the  priests,  for  Jesus  was  regarded  as  a  Rabbi; 
and  when  John  spoke  in  the  wilderness  he  voiced  a 
movement  that  made  for  spiritual  and  intellectual 
liberty.  His  position  was  like  that  of  George  Fox  or 
Whitefield  or  Dwight  L.  Moody. 

The  Temple  had  been,  and  was  still,  a  witness  of 
truth.  The  cattle,  tethered  near  the  brazen  altar, 
spoke  of  atonement  for  sin.  Unlike  our  churches  and 
chapels,  the  shrine  lacked  nothing  of  clergy,  wor- 
shipers, or  collection.     It  was  thronged  with  people. 


JOHN,  THE  FORERUNNER  47 

Money  poured  into  its  coffers.  The  State  patronized 
the  services.  The  hierarchy  enjoyed  temporal 
power.  There  was  education.  There  was  hberty  of 
discussion.  The  Pharisee  could  wear  his  phylactery; 
the  Sadducee  could  argue  against  eternal  life;  and 
the  Herodians  could  defend  the  tribute  to  Caesar. 
Our  Lord  could  teach  in  the  Temple,  and  His  disciples 
constantly  made  it  their  resort.  But  while  Herod 
was  adding  stone  to  stone,  John  preferred  the  Jordan, 
and  Jesus  realized  that  not  one  stone  would  remain 
on  another.  For,  as  we  shall  see,  the  New  Temple 
was  to  be  built  in  men's  hearts. 

Priests  and  Rabbis. 

The  courts  were,  doubtless,  crowded  with  Jew 
and  Gentile,  as  if  here  was  in  very  truth  a  world-wide 
religion.  But,  as  Paul  found,  within  were  selfishness 
and  exclusion.  Priests  alone  could  minister.  Once 
only  in  the  year  could  the  high  priest  enter  the  very 
presence  of  God.  Women  were  separated  from  men. 
The  tabernacle  in  the  wilderness,  which  when  first 
established  had  gathered  the  tribes  into  one  brother- 
hood, had  fulfilled  its  purpose,  and  was  now  a  citadel 
of  privilege. 

And  the  Holy  of  Holies,  once  radiant  with  God's 
Presence,  was  empty.  When  the  veil  was  rent  by  a 
Divine  hand — that  is,  from  top  to  bottom — behold, 
there  was  nothing  within.  Gone  was  the  manna 
from  heaven  that  fed  the  nation.  Gone  were  the 
tables  of  law  that  protected  the  poor  and  the  weak. 
Gone  was  Aaron's  rod  of  discipline  that  blossomed 
into  beauty.  Only  a  free  people  could  preserve  the 
ark  of  such  a  covenant,  and  in  captivity  the  ark 
disappeared.     Yet  the  priests  and  the   Rabbis   still 


48  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

taught  the  people  that  God  is  to  be  worshiped  in  the 
gloom  and  in  the  darkness  of  a  silent  loneliness.  It 
was  not  the  belief  of  Moses  and  the  Prophets.  To 
them,  God  was  ever  where  the  brightness  burns.  In 
the  cleft  of  the  rock,  in  the  cloud  by  day,  in  the  flame 
by  night,  in  the  glow  of  Urim  and  Thummim,  in  the 
fiery  bush;  the  glory  of  the  Shekinah  is  not  darkness 
amid  light,  but  light  amid  darkness;  it  is  wisdom 
amid  folly,  science  amid  superstition,  knowledge  amid 
ignorance,  hope  amid  fears.  It  was  not  the  incense, 
nor  the  smoke  of  sacrifices,  nor  the  feeble  glimmer 
of  the  seven  lamps  on  the  golden  candlestick,  nor  the 
tinkle  of  bells  and  pomegranates  on  the  robes  of 
Caiaphas,  the  high  priest,  that  drew  the  angel  Gabriel 
to  earth;  but  the  prayers  of  Zacharias,  uttered  not 
once  within  this  costly  shrine.  Man  himself  is  the 
temple  of  God,  and  within  him  must  be  built  the 
altar  of  incense  where  he  worships,  the  table  of  shew- 
bread  which  sustains  him,  the  sevenfold  candlestick 
which  illuminates  his  judgment,  and  the  ark  of  the 
covenant  over  which,  like  cherubim,  God's  Spirit 
hovers,  with  wings  that  could  wander,  but  with  a 
reverence  that  enthralls.  To  cleanse  that  temple 
was  John's  task;  to  dwell  in  it  is  the  birthright  of 
Jesus;  and  to  welcome  Him  is  the  inestimable  privi- 
lege of  all  mankind. 


VII 

HEROD— THE  RIVAL 

Jacob  and  Esau — "  A  Monster  of  Iniquity  " — Christ  and  the 
Children — The  Children's  Charter. 

WHAT  I  notice  first  about  the  massacre  of  the 
innocents  is  that  here  was  the  final  sword- 
flash  of  a  family  feud  which,  for  a  thousand  years 
or  more,  had  aroused  the  blood-lust  between  two 
neighbor  peoples.  To  us  it  may  seem  to  be  a  far 
cry  from  Jacob  to  Jesus  and  from  Esau  to  Herod, 
but  to  Obadiah  and  the  other  prophets  who  shared 
his  vision  the  old  quarrel  over  a  birthright  was  eternal 
— it  was  revived  in  all  the  cruel  wars  that  cursed  suc- 
cessive generations;  and,  in  essence,  it  was  this  very 
rivalry  that  provoked  the  first  of  several  attempts  to 
assassinate  our  Saviour.  Before  you  dismiss  as  fanci- 
ful what  follows,  pay  a  visit  to  a  modern  synagogue 
and  there  learn  by  the  teaching  of  your  own  eyes  what 
mysterious  permanence  there  is  in  all  that  appertains 
to  that  strange  Jewish  nation  whose  very  existence  is 
to-day  an  ethnological  miracle. 

By  the  recognized  rules  of  ancestry,  Herod  was 
entitled  to  the  crown  which  he  wore,  for  he  belonged 
to  the  elder  branch  of  Isaac's  race,  and  Jacob's 
children  were  supplanters.     Indeed,  it  is  one  of  those 

49 


50  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

coincidences  which  constantly  startle  us  in  this  nar- 
rative, that  the  Edomites,  for  the  first  and  last  time 
in  their  history,  attained  in  Herod's  person  to  those 
temporal  ambitions  which  had  been  thwarted  through 
Jacob's  subtlety.  Nor  do  we  read  that  Jesus  ever 
laid  claim  to  their  patrimony  as  thus  defined.  It  was 
not  He,  but  the  Roman  Emperor,  who  deposed 
Archelaus,  the  son  of  Herod,  and  so  created  a  vacancy 
on  the  throne  of  David  that  remains  to  this  day — a 
vacancy  which,  despite  all  the  hopes  of  the  chosen 
people,  no  second  Christ  has  arisen  to  fill.  The  king- 
dom sought  by  our  Lord  was  spiritual,  not  temporal. 
It  was  the  kingdom  that  Jacob,  had  he  been  wise, 
would  have  sought  after,  leaving  the  rest  to  Esau,  as 
Abraham  left  the  rest  to  Lot.  And  in  the  jealousies 
which  separated  Israel  and  Edom,  we  see  the  futility 
of  international  hatreds,  ending  as  they  always  do  in 
the  slaughter  of  helpless  children. 

Jesus  was  not  unmindful  of  His  obligations  as  a 
first-born  son.  It  was  such  that  Mary  presented 
her  boy  to  the  priests.  But  what  was  to  be  His 
birthright?  Was  He  to  expect  lands  or  wealth  or 
social  position?  Not  at  all.  By  the  ordinance  of 
Moses,  an  eldest  son  belonged  especially  to  God;  his 
ancestral  estate  was  duty,  and  he  must  expect  less, 
not  more  property,  than  his  younger  brothers,  since, 
as  a  man  redeemed  from  Egyptian  death,  he  may  not 
even  lay  claim  to  his  own  person.  By  such  a  reversion 
of  our  customs  it  was  that  Christ  fulfilled  the  rules 
of  primogeniture,  as  He  fulfilled  every  other  law, 
and  was  hailed  by  the  Apostles  as  the  Elder  of  many 
brethren — the  Heir  of  all  things;  so  that,  in  His 
sight,  every  child,  however  far  removed  from  the 
succession,  becomes  as  sacred  as  every  other  child, 


HEROD— THE  RIVAL  51 

with  an  indefeasible  title  to  the  riches  which  are  un- 
searchable. In  Him,  as  Son  of  David,  we  see  what 
is  really  meant  by  Noblesse  Oblige.  The  aristocracy 
that  He  founded  was  of  sacrifice,  not  privilege. 

Jacob  and  Esau. 

Rebekah  realized  that  her  children,  like  our  children, 
are  the  nations  of  the  future,  Esau,  with  his  rough 
hands,  fine  clothing,  and  passion  for  the  chase,  was 
the  ideal  hero  for  a  military  despotism.  Jacob,  the 
plain  farmer  and  merchant,  who  enjoyed  nothing 
that  had  not  been  won  by  labor,  who  reaped  nothing 
that  he  had  not  sown,  and  slew  no  beast  for  food 
that  he  had  not  first  reared,  was  the  founder  of  a 
trading  people.  When  Jesus  was  born,  it  seemed  as 
if  the  soldiers  of  Edom  were  triumphing  everywhere 
over  the  civiHans  of  Israel;  but,  in  face  of  this 
panorama  of  triumphant  force,  He  devoted  Himself, 
not  to  the  profession  of  arms,  but  to  a  manual  in- 
dustry; and,  against  all  the  appearances,  declared  that 
it  is  the  meek  who  will  inherit  the  earth.  History 
has  justified  His  wisdom.  Commerce  has  proved 
more  powerful  than  capture  and  conquest.  The  Jews 
have  no  army,  no  navy,  no  frontiers,  no  fortresses. 
But  they  continue  as  a  nation,  richer  to-day  and  more 
powerful  than  at  any  time  in  their  long  and  chequered 
story,  while  Edom  is  an  evil  memory.  Her  rock-hewn 
fastnesses,  once  so  formidable,  are  haunts  for  the 
beasts  of  the  desert. 

When  the  Wise  Men  entered  Jerusalem  and  asked 
for  the  King  of  the  Jews,  they  started  a  controversy 
which  will  rage  to  the  end  of  time.  Herod  and  his 
city  assumed,  as  a  matter  of  course,  that  the  new 
Sovereign  would  exercise  temporal  power,  and  they 


6«  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

were  afraid.  In  a  sense,  they  had  reason  to  be. 
No  monarch  and  no  dynasty  has  influenced  the 
course  of  history  as  has  Jesus.  His  disciples  were 
accused  of  turning  the  whole  world  upside  down. 
Nor  did  He  ever  disclaim  the  title  of  "  King  "  which 
the  Wise  Men — not  wise  enough  to  see  Him  first  as 
Saviour — attributed  to  Him.  To  Pilate,  He  admitted 
that  to  this  Kingship  was  He  born;  and  the  fact  was 
asserted,  for  all  men  to  see,  on  His  very  cross.  Yet 
Herod  himself,  like  Pilate,  knew  well  enough  that 
Jesus  was  no  upstart  pretender,  no  rebel  against  the 
State.  If  Jesus  had  been  a  claimant  to  his  throne, 
Herod,  in  pretending  to  worship  Him,  must  have 
offered  to  the  Wise  Men  some  kind  of  abdication  in 
His  favor.  What  the  old  tyrant  did  offer  was  merely 
worship.  By  the  light  that  lighteth  every  man  who 
comes  into  the  world,  Herod  knew  that  Jesus  would 
be  called,  not  to  abolish  kingliness,  but  to  ennoble 
it;  not  to  create  republics,  but  to  inspire  citizens; 
not  to  trample  on  crowns,  but  to  receive  them,  laid 
at  His  feet;  to  be  a  King  of  kings  and  a  Lord  of  lords. 
What  makes  the  attitude  of  Herod  so  significant  is 
precisely  this — that  he  was  not  deceived  as  to  the 
purpose  of  Christ.  If  he  was  the  first  man  definitely 
to  reject  Him,  at  least  he  did  it  with  his  eyes  open. 

"  A  Monster  of  Iniquity." 

Like  his  great  ancestor,  Esau,  when  he  despised 
his  birthright,  Herod  was  at  the  point  of  death;  and 
every  man  who  is  conscious  of  that  dread  enemy's 
approach  is  also  near  to  God.  For  the  sake  of  the 
last  shreds  of  his  power,  this  "  profane  "  man  threw 
away  the  everlasting  fame  which  would  have  been 
his  if  he  had  bowed  the  knee  to  One  who  could  pardon 


HEROD— THE  RIVAL  53 

even  him.  He  knew  that  the  stars  cannot  lie.  He 
beHeved  the  Prophets.  But  instead  of  bequeathing 
his  throne  to  Jesus,  he  fought  blindly  for  the  survival 
of  his  vested  interest,  and  bartered  his  soul  for  a 
mess  of  pottage.  In  the  annals  of  error,  there  is  no 
more  pitiful  picture  than  this  of  the  king  who  fought 
for  a  throne,  only  to  murder  his  heir;  built  a  temple, 
but  killed  the  high  priest;  consummated  a  brilliant 
marriage,  but  slew  his  wife;  massacred  his  subjects, 
to  strengthen  his  dynasty — including  in  the  slaughter 
infants  under  two  years  old,  in  order  to  ease  that  one 
faded  life  of  his  which  had  less  than  two  years  to  run. 

We  speak  of  Herod  as  a  monster  of  iniquity,  but 
he  is  not  unique.  He  is  only  one  example  of  a  con- 
stantly-recurring type.  The  employer  who  sub- 
ordinates the  health  of  his  workers  to  his  profits,  the 
emperor  who  harnesses  his  people  to  dreams  of 
aggression,  the  landlord  who  receives  rent  without 
securing  sanitation,  the  mother  who  marries  her 
daughter  for  money — all  these  are  guilty,  each  in  his 
degree,  of  Herod's  sin;  nor  is  there  any  evidence 
that  a  child  under  two  years  old  in  England  to-day 
has  a  greater  chance  of  life  than  a  child  of  that  age 
in  Judea.  We  do  not  issue  edicts  of  death,  but  we  are 
careless,  and  the  percentage  of  mortality  remains. 

Not  once  in  later  years  did  Jesus  refer  to  the  crime 
which,  at  Bethlehem,  was  aimed  against  Him.  So 
far  from  denouncing  the  Herods,  He  was  ready  to 
suffer  in  their  stead.  He  did  not  attempt  to  avenge 
the  innocent  children  who  had  died  in  His  cause,  by 
stirring  up  insurrection  against  the  ruling  and  guilty 
house.  Once,  indeed,  when  the  Pharisees,  still  re- 
calling the  massacre,  threatened  Him  with  death  at 
the  hands  of  Herod  Antipas,  He  did  reply  by  hurling 


54  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

the  epithet  "that  fox"  at  the  tetrarch;  but  this  was 
after  His  friend  John  had  been  done  to  death. 
Even  that  event  did  not  provoke  Jesus  to  political 
revolt.  His  answer  to  the  younger  Herod  was  that 
He  could  not  seek  safety  a  second  time  in  Egypt — 
for  this  was  the  suggestion — since  there  were  the  sick 
to  be  cured  and  the  devils  to  be  cast  out.  When 
the  day's  work  was  done,  then,  and  then  only,  would 
the  Worker  be  "  perfected."  Herod  Antipas  hugged 
his  devils,  and  did  not  ask  to  be  cured  of  his  maladies. 
But  the  original  wrong  done  by  Jacob  to  Esau  was 
none  the  less  abundantly  repaired.  John  sought 
earnestly  to  win  the  soul  of  the  tetrarch.  During 
His  trial,  Jesus  Himself  stood,  silent  and  defenseless, 
before  that  unhappy  man — Jesus,  in  His  own  word, 
"  perfected."  And  Paul,  still  yearning  to  rescue  the 
fallen  family,  wrestled  long  with  Herod  Agrippa. 
But  John  and  Paul,  like  Jesus,  shed  their  blood,  so 
far  as  the  Herods  were  concerned,  in  vain.  It  is  true 
that  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  some  Edomites  heard 
the  Gospel  in  their  own  tongue  and  rejoiced,  so  ending 
for  ever  their  quarrel  with  Israel  and  testifying  to 
Jesus  as  Prince  of  Peace;  but  of  their  ruling  house, 
not  one  prince,  not  one  princess,  so  far  as  we  know, 
ever  accepted  the  great  redemption.  Then,  as  now, 
it  was  far  easier  to  reconcile  peoples  than  to  assuage 
the  quarrels  of  their  rulers. 

Christ  and  the  Children. 

Driven  from  Bethlehem  to  Egypt,  Jesus  did  not 
return  thither.  When  He  began  His  ministry.  He 
made  no  attempt  to  revive  the  glories  of  His  birth 
and  ancestry.  He  came  to  men,  as  He  comes  to  us, 
with  His  boundless  love  as  His  sole  credential.     But, 


HEROD— THE  RIVAL  55 

throughout  His  life,  He  ever  heard  that  voice  in 
Ramah,  Rachel  weeping  for  her  children,  and  would 
not  be  comforted,  because  they  are  not.  To  repay 
those  children  was  His  first  and  constant  thought.  He 
did  not  utter  one  word  that  a  boy  or  girl  could  not  un- 
derstand. He  filled  His  addresses  with  stories  which 
would  attract  the  young  to  His  Gospel.  He  raised  a 
child  from  the  dead.  From  another  child  He  drove 
forth  a  devil.  And  He  sharply  rebuked  the  disciples 
when  they  hindered  the  children  from  gathering 
around  Him  or  shouting  His  praises,  as  He  entered 
Jerusalem.  No  man,  no  woman,  was  ever  named  by 
Him  as  our  example,  but  He  did  set  a  child  in  the 
midst,  and  bid  us  live  as  happily  as  that.  When  He 
foretold  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  what  seemed  to 
wring  His  heart  was  the  knowledge  that  suffering 
would  fall  upon  the  babes  in  their  mothers'  arms; 
and,  with  the  cross  crushing  His  bleeding  shoulders, 
the  sight  of  women,  as  they  accompanied  Him  to 
Calvary,  filled  Him  with  pity,  not  for  Himself,  but  for 
the  little  ones  who  would  cling  vainly  to  their  parents, 
crying  out  for  protection.  To  every  child  He  ap- 
pointed a  guardian  angel,  who  should  watch  over  it  day 
and  night,  and  be  constantly  answerable  to  the  Eternal 
Father  Himself.  And  about  the  neck  of  every  man 
who  should  cause  the  children  to  stumble.  He  set  the 
millstone  which  should  sink  such  an  one  into  the  deep 
seas  of  everlasting  remorse.  Give  a  child  a  cup  of 
cold  water,  said  He,  and  you  have  done  it  unto  Me. 
And  not  the  least  remarkable  of  the  numerous  coin- 
cidences which  constantly  startle  one,  as  this  narrative 
proceeds,  is  the  fact  that  when,  at  last,  the  Babe  of 
Bethlehem  was  slain  by  wicked  men,  it  was  a  Joseph 
who  buried  Him,  and  this  Joseph  came  f  rom  Arimathea, 


56  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

or  Ramah.     From  cradle  to  grave  His  incarnate  life 
was  one  predestined  unity. 

The  Children's  Charter. 

So  it  is  that  what  distinguishes  Christian  lands 
from  all  others  is,  first  and  foremost,  the  education  of 
children.  Orphanages  and  schools,  day  nurseries  and 
infant  clinics,  special  care  of  the  weaklings,  and  play 
centers,  cottage  homes,  and  country  holidays — all  these 
are  evidences  that  Herod  has  died;  that  Jesus  has  re- 
turned to  Galilee  from  His  exile  in  Egypt. 

There  are  two  theories  of  race,  of  which  the  first  is 
that  the  fittest  only  should  survive,  and  this  was  be- 
lieved in  Rome.  Respect  for  the  strong  was  there 
the  life-breath  of  efficiency,  and  in  an  Empire  where 
armies  marched  without  ambulance  there  w-as  no  de- 
fense for  the  weak,  save  pity.  Jesus,  on  the  other 
hand,  was  filled  with  a  great  reverence  for  the  back- 
ward. While  others  only  judged  by  the  twisted  and 
distorted  limbs,  His  eye — piercing  to  the  very  soul, 
like  the  rays  of  modern  surgery — saw  what  was  in 
man,  the  blood  coursing  through  the  veins,  the  heart 
beating  in  its  mantle  of  sense,  the  mind  striving  within 
its  prison.  He  would  not  willingly  waste  one  finger 
of  the  meanest  barbarian.  He  would  claim  the 
cannibal  and  the  cripple,  because  both  are  needed  by 
the  Father  of  All.  He  would  triumph,  not  by  the 
slayers,  but  through  the  slain,  and  where  to  Herod, 
the  people  should  die,  that  the  King  may  live,  to 
Jesus,  the  King  should  die,  that  the  people  may  live. 

It  is  the  test  of  all  temporal  power — this  well-being 
of  the  weakest — and  Jacob,  with  his  constant  care 
for  the  women  and  children,  was  nearer  to  the  kingdom 
than  Esau,  with  his  band  of  four  hundred  armed  men. 


VIII 
FROM  EGYPT  TO  GALILEE 

The  Doom  of  Egypt — ^The  Return  to  Nazareth — Books  of  Life 
and  Death. 

THOSE  who  do  their  life-work  in  foreign  lands,  far 
from  home,  should  not  forget  that  Jesus  also 
was  driven  into  exile  as  a  boy,  and  died  without  a  roof 
over  His  head.  There  were  multitudes  of  Jews  in 
Egypt,  but  not  one  of  them  recognized  Him  as  Mes- 
siah. There  were  shepherds,  but  they  did  not  sing  His 
praise,  and  wise  men,  but  they  brought  no  gifts.  Yet 
in  Egypt  they  had  the  Old  Testament,  with  its  proph- 
ecies, translated  into  the  Greek  vernacular — an  open 
Bible — and  they  had  the  heathen  at  their  very  doors. 
Here  surely  was  the  ideal  headquarters  for  a  world- 
wide mission !  But  nothing,  not  one  word,  of  the  same 
is  recorded.  Our  Lord  went  to  Egypt  and  returned 
thence  without  arousing  one  flicker  of  interest,  appar- 
ently, in  any  human  heart.  Nor  at  any  subsequent 
time  did  He  visit  this  unresponsive  region.  And  when 
the  Apostle  Paul  mapped  out  his  missionary  tours, 
as  a  strategist  maps  out  the  advance  of  his  army,  the 
territory  which  he  set  forth  to  win  was  not  Egypt,  but 
Asia  Minor,  Greece,  and  Rome  herself. 

The  name  "  Egypt,"  like  the  country,  means  Mud. 

57 


68  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

In  Egypt  man  has  been  all  that  he  can  be  as  a  creature 
of  the  dust,  living  at  ease  in  his  long  valley,  with  the 
rich  river  at  his  feet,  flowing  he  knows  not  whence, 
and  bringing  to  him  as  a  matter  of  course  the  red 
and  fruitful  soil  of  distant  mountains,  which  he  has 
no  need  to  climb  or  to  pierce  with  his  pickaxe.  There 
were  treasures  in  Egypt.  There  was  science.  There 
were  glitter  and  pomp.  There  were  chariots  and 
horses  in  which  men  trusted.  But  the  leeks,  the  gar- 
lics, the  cucumbers,  the  melons,  and  the  onions,  on 
which  men  fed  themselves,  grew  upon  the  ground,  and 
could  only  be  gathered  by  stooping.  The  temples  of 
Egypt  were  doubtless  massive  and  abiding;  but,  un- 
like the  Temple  of  Jerusalem,  and  all,  even  the  rudest, 
Christian  churches,  they  had  no  pinnacle,  pointing  to 
God,  being  finished  skywards  with  a  heavy,  level  line, 
as  if  worship  itself  must  creep  along  the  ground  like 
the  sacred  and  cruel  crocodile.  The  plagues  of  Egypt 
were,  as  a  rule,  the  plagues  of  plenty — hideous  dis- 
eases on  man  and  beast,  loathsome  vermin  in  the  very 
sanctity  of  home,  corrupted  water,  devastation  by 
locusts,  the  darkness  of  superstition,  the  death  even  of 
the  firstborn.  In  Egypt,  one  discovers  precisely  what 
our  Lord  meant  when  He  spoke  of  the  deceitfulness 
of  riches  choking  the  Word.  He  learnt  that  lesson 
while  He  was  learning  to  walk. 

The  Doom  of  Egypt. 

When  Abraham  left  Chaldea,  the  great  question 
that  he  had  to  decide  was  whether  he  would  settle  in 
Palestine,  with  its  constant  dread  of  drought,  its 
crags  and  caves,  its  whirlwinds,  earthquakes,  and 
convulsions;  or  in  Egypt,  with  its  comfort  and  ease. 
Abraham,  fleeing  from  famine,  tasted  the  Egyptian 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  GALILEE  59 

pleasures,  and  only  escaped  therefrom  just  in  time  to 
avoid  irreparable  disgrace.  The  first  Joseph  went  to 
Egypt  under  compulsion,  and  showed  us  that  a  man 
so  compelled  may  preserve  his  soul  amid  an  evil 
environment.  But  when  he  had  overcome  the  trials 
of  prison  on  the  one  hand  and  of  the  palace  on  the 
other,  even  he  directed  that  at  least  his  bones  should 
escape,  and  lie  in  the  land  of  liberty,  from  which  his 
spirit  had  never  been  separated.  And  when  his 
brethren  declined  to  follow  that  cortege,  as  they 
might  have  done — when  they  failed  to  return  to  the 
land  of  reverence  and  justice — they  were  enslaved. 
Moses  was  bred  a  prince  of  Egypt,  but  preferring  the 
rigor  of  law  to  the  luxury  of  a  court,  he  also  fied  to 
the  soHtude  of  Sinai.  x\nd  Jeremiah,  knowing  that 
no  good  could  come  of  it,  only  emigrated  to  Egypt 
under  protest. 

The  tyranny  of  the  Nile  was  one  with  the  tyranny 
of  the  Euphrates,  from  which  Abraham  fled;  and  "  the 
Land  of  Promise,"  struggling  for  existence  between 
the  sand  of  the  sea  and  the  sand  of  the  desert,  was  the 
one  shred  of  God's  earth  where  a  man  could  call  his 
soul  his  own,  and  so  render  up  that  soul  to  God  who 
gave  it.  You  find  it  all  set  out  in  that  long  78th 
Psalm.  You  find  it  again  in  Psalm  105.  The  drama 
is  the  very  burden  of  Stephen's  address.  It  was  what 
Paul  preached  at  Antioch.  It  is  prominent  in  the  great 
pcean  of  faith  which  was  written  "  to  the  Hebrews." 
And  Hosea — the  earliest  of  Minor  Prophets,  whose 
very  name  means  "  Salvation  " — struck  the  dominant 
note  of  Jewish  history  when  he  said :  "  Out  of  Egypt 
have  I  called  my  son  " — called  him,  because  I  loved 
him.  Commerce,  comfort,  riches,  courts — all  these 
things  are  secondary  to  the  supreme  claim  of  the  soul. 


60  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

Joseph  in  Egypt,  Daniel  in  Babylon,  had  shown  the 
utmost  that  a  good  man  may  do  to  reclaim  a  country 
without  changing  the  people's  hearts.  If  Jesus 
did  not  revive  their  efforts,  it  was  because  His  aims 
were  more  thorough.  He  knew  that  the  best  of  rulers 
is  powerless  when  the  populace  is  depraved.  Nations 
are  governed  neither  better  nor  worse  than  they  de- 
serve. 

The  Return  to  Nazareth. 

Although  Joseph,  the  husband  of  Mary,  was  re- 
minded by  his  very  name  of  these  great  traditions  of 
his  race,  he  was  apparently  settling  down  in  Egypt 
as  a  Jew  of  the  Dispersion,  when  a  dream  aroused 
him.  Then,  like  Abraham  and  Moses,  he  also  re- 
turned again  to  the  Promised  Land,  taking  with  him 
the  Child  and  His  mother.  But  he  heard  that  Arche- 
laus  reigned  in  Jerusalem,  and  he  had  to  turn  aside 
from  Judea,  so  that  Jesus  became  once  more  an  exile, 
this  time  in  His  own  native  land.  In  Bethlehem  He 
could  trace  an  ancestry.  In  Jerusalem  He  could 
claim  a  crown.  But  in  Nazareth  He  was  stripped  of 
all  His  privileges.  He  began  life  simply  as  a  village 
boy.  The  only  etiquette  that  He  learned  was  respect 
for  others.  His  only  statecraft  was  service.  His 
only  decoration  was  character.  His  only  armory 
was  Scripture.  Nothing,  not  even  goodness,  was 
made  easier  for  Him  than  it  is  for  us;  and  we  who 
chafe  at  our  days  of  routine  will  find  that  routine 
was  also  His  appointed  lot.  He  understands  its  every 
detail.  He  was  in  all  points  tempted  or  tested  like  as 
we  are,  yet  without  sin;  and  He  is  thus  able  to  put  us 
at  our  ease  with  our  best  selves — the  best  that  is  in 
us — so    helpful    is    His    friendship,    so    sympathetic, 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  GALILEE  61 

It  was  well  for  us  that  He  was  not  brought  up  arti- 
ficially, as  a  Prince  or  a  Lama,  but  with  the  home  for 
His  school,  with  a  mother  for  His  guide,  and  with  the 
countryside  for  His  outlook. 

Jesus  did  not  revisit  Egypt,  nor  did  He  once  men- 
tion this  place  of  His  babyhood.  But  on  His  inner 
consciousness  the  thought  and  life  of  Egypt  left  a 
color  that  never  faded.  When  one  looks  at  the 
colossal  effigies  of  the  Pharaohs,  one  cannot  but  think 
of  our  Lord's  question — how,  by  taking  thought,  a 
man  can  add  one  cubit  to  his  stature.  In  that  single 
sentence  He  summed  up  the  megalomania  of  a  thou- 
sand despots,  and  reduced  us  all  to  our  true  limits.  If 
His  Bible  was  the  Alexandrian  Septuagint,  translated 
by  seventy  scholars,  so  was  His  Gospel  to  be  preached 
by  seventy  evangelists,  who  could  translate  the  Word 
of  God  into  terms,  not  of  language,  but  of  life  and 
faith  and  happiness. 

And,  further.  He  first  dealt  with  the  one  eternal 
fact  which  even  Egypt  cannot  avoid — the  fact  of 
death.  The  Land  of  Promise  was  a  place  of  home, 
where  men  could  dwell,  each  under  his  own  vine  and 
fig-tree,  with  those  fruits  that  one  must  gather,  not  by 
stooping,  but  by  reaching  forth  the  hand  and  looking 
upward.  The  House  of  Bondage  was  a  place  where 
men  lived  among  the  tombs.  By  the  desperate  device 
of  embalming  the  body,  they  hoped-  to  win  the 
splendors  of  immortality,  and  they  succeeded.  You 
may  still  see  the  face  of  Rameses  II.  in  the  museum 
of  Cairo.  Jesus  taught  us  that,  whatever  happens  to 
the  body,  in  Him  our  souls  are  safe;  and,  by  removing 
from  us  His  own  most  blessed  and  wounded  body, 
bearing  it  with  Him  to  the  throne  of  God,  He  de- 
stroyed for  ever  the  efficacy  of  relic-worship,  which 


62  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

fades  into  a  memory,  having  accomplished  in  Egypt 
all  the  human  consolation  of  which  it  was  capable. 
Prolonged  and  determined  as  has  been  the  attempt  of 
the  Catholic  Church,  in  this  respect,  to  undo  His  lib- 
erating work,  that  attempt  has  failed. 

Books  of  Life  and  Death. 

Where  our  Bible  is  a  Book  of  Life,  the  Bible  of 
ancient  Egypt  was  a  Book  of  the  Dead.  In  the  British 
Museum  you  may  see  it  unfolded,  with  all  its  cold  and 
pitiless  portrayal  of  the  Last  Judgment.  Egyptians 
knew  that  the  time  would  come  when  souls  would 
be  weighed  in  the  balance,  and  they  recognized  that, 
under  this  test,  character  alone  would  count.  Like 
Paul,  w^hen  he  wrote  to  the  Romans,  they  held  that 
man's  life  in  this  world,  left  to  itself,  tended  steadily 
to  reduce  him  to  the  level  of  an  animal,  and  their 
conception  of  a  future  state  was  that  our  souls  would 
return,  not  to  God,  but  to  brute  beasts  and  creeping 
creatures.  They  constantly  separated  the  righteous 
from  the  unrighteous — the  sheep  from  the  goats — 
and  by  what  test  ?  Knowing  our  Lord's  parable,  one 
is  startled  to  find,  in  the  Egyptian  ritual  of  the  Last 
Judgment,  the  soul  crying  out : 

"  I  have  won  for  myself  God  by  my  love;  I  have 
given  bread  to  the  hungry — water  to  the  thirsty — 
clothes  to  the  naked;  I  have  made  a  refuge  for  the 
forsaken." 

Even  the  terrible  declaration  of  Jesus — that  of 
every  idle  word  a  man  shall  speak  he  must  give  an 
account,  when  all  is  known — has  its  parallel  in  the 
Book  of  the  Dead,  where  punishment  is  set  out  as 


FROM  EGYPT  TO  GALILEE  63 

essentially  a  disclosure  of  truth,  in  which  our  con- 
versations are  evidence. 

This  was  the  fear  of  death  under  which,  in  the  words 
of  Zecharias,  afterwards  developed  by  the  Apostle 
Paul,  men  were  all  their  lifetime  subject  to  bondage. 
What  it  means  to  the  world  and  to  each  of  us  can  best 
be  illustrated — though  it  is  only  illustration — by  com- 
paring the  scales  of  right  and  wrong,  as  painted  by  the 
artists  of  Egypt,  with  those  same  scales  as  sculptured 
by  the  masons  of  the  Middle  Ages  above  the  doors 
of  the  Sainte  Chapelle  in  Paris.  To  heal  the  sick, 
to  feed  the  hungry,  to  support  the  widowed  mother, 
to  hallow  the  marriage-feast,  and  to  cheer  the  poor — 
all  this  would  have  left  the  salvation  of  man  still  im- 
perfect, if  the  last  and  final  terror  of  retribution  re- 
mained as  a  shadow  over  the  imagination  and  the 
conscience.  Across  the  heartless  logic  of  the  Egyptian 
Bible — the  blind  tragedy  of  cause  and  effect — the 
Redeemer  shed  His  life-blood;  and  while  the  Judge 
assumes  the  black  cap,  His  ministers,  in  every  land 
and  every  age,  offer  mercy  to  the  repentant  soul. 
With  Jesus  it  was  not,  as  in  Egypt,  that  we  win  for 
ourselves  God  by  our  love.  It  was  God  who,  by 
His  love,  won  for  Himself  us  men. 


IX 

THE  EDUCATION  OF  JESUS 

Arithmetician — The  Practical  Observer — Outdoor  Life. 

I  HAVE  been  reading  a  "  Life "  of  our  Lord,  in 
which  it  is  assumed  that  as  a  boy  He  went  to 
school.  In  the  Gospels  no  mention  is  made  of  a  class- 
room, and  what  we  are  told  is  simply  that  He  was 
subject  to  His  parents.  On  them,  as  on  all  parents, 
lay  the  whole  responsibility  for  His  upbringing;  nor 
did  they  delegate  their  task  to  house-masters  or 
any  other  person  paid  to  act  in  their  place,  A  lad 
whose  people  are  too  poor  to  send  him  to  Eton  or 
Harrow  should  notice  that  Jesus  also  was  a  mere 
day-boy.  All  His  lessons  were  taught  at  home,  and 
when  He  became  famous,  the  men  who  had  enjoyed 
the  educational  advantages  of  Jerusalem  or  Alex- 
andria or  Capernaum  were  astonished  to  find  out  how 
well  He  knew  His  letters,  having,  as  they  thought, 
never  learnt;  while  others  sneered  at  the  idea  of  any 
good  thing  arising  out  of  Nazareth,  a  place  where  no 
one  would  look  for  a  famous  college. 

So  far  as  one  can  discover  from  the  records.  His 
attainments  were  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic, 
all  of  which  He  could  have  learnt,  and  doubtless  did 
learn,  from  Joseph  and  Mary.     His  ability  to  read 

64 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  JESUS  65 

included  the  Hebrew  of  the  Bible,  as  recited  in  the 
synagogue;  and,  unhke  those  who  babble  the  Lessons, 
or  mutter  them,  or  drawl  them.  He  read  so  well  that 
the  people,  while  listening  to  Isaiah's  words,  fastened 
their  eyes  on  Him  of  whom  Isaiah  spoke.  His  hand- 
writing was  plain  and  legible — so  plain,  indeed,  that 
the  Jews,  who  watched  His  finger  as  He  traced  their 
record  on  the  ground,  left,  one  by  one,  in  shame; 
but  setting  a  supreme  value  on  personal  intercourse. 
He  wrote  neither  books  nor  letters,  and  so  eluded  one 
of  the  most  soul-destroying  tyrannies  of  our  time. 

Arithmetician.  > 

His  favorite  subject  was  arithmetic,  in  which 
His  accuracy,  as  of  a  skilled  artisan,  accustomed  to 
the  foot-rule,  was  unerring.  He  always  liked  to  put 
a  numeral  into  His  teaching,  and  the  numerals  were 
always  appropriate.  There  were  five  wise  virgins 
and  five  foolish  ones.  The  first  servant  had  five 
talents,  and  the  second  two,  while  the  third  had  only 
one.  The  laborers  were  engaged  at  one  penny  a 
day,  and  the  last  gang  began  work  at  the  eleventh 
hour.  The  woman  hid  her  leaven  in  three  measures 
of  meal — how  often  had  our  Saviour  seen  His  mother 
do  the  same ! — and  what  the  other  housewife  lost  was 
one  piece  of  silver  out  of  ten.  He  spoke  not  vaguely 
of  sheep,  but  precisely  of  an  hundred  sheep,  less  one, 
which  leaves  ninety  and  nine.  The  price  of  sparrows 
was  two  to  the  farthing;  and  seed,  if  properly  sown, 
would  yield,  some  thirtyfold,  some  sixtyfold,  and  some 
an  hundredfold,  showing  that  even  good  ground 
varies  in  fertility.  God  forgives  us  ten  thousand 
talents;  all  that  we  can  forgive  our  neighbor  is,  by 
comparison,  one  hundred  pence. 


66  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

I  To  Him,  every  coin,  every  weight,  every  measure, 
(every  numeral  meant  the  Soul.  He  chose  not  several 
apostles  but  twelve,  and  not  a  multitude  of  preachers 
but  seventy;  while,  after  His  resurrection,  the  fishes 
caught  in  Peter's  net,  when  counted  in  His  presence, 
were  exactly  one  hundred  and  fifty  and  three,  while 
the  distance  of  the  boat  from  the  shore  was  about  two 
hundred  cubits.  In  the  wilderness.  He  fasted  forty 
days;  and  when  He  fed  the  multitudes,  He  verified  His 
statistics  by  arranging  the  people  in  hundreds  and 
in  fifties,  thus  knowing  exactly  that  five  thousand, 
besides  women  and  children,  were  satisfied  with  five 
loaves  and  two  fishes,  while  twelve  basketfuls  re- 
mained, and  that  four  thousand  were  satisfied  with 
seven  loaves  and  a  few  little  fishes,  while  seven  basket- 
fuls remained.  These  statistics  Jesus  noted  at  the 
time,  and  weeks  afterwards  He  was  able  to  quote  them 
accurately.  In  Him,  we  see  God  as  Craftsman,  cal- 
culating the  times  and  seasons  by  His  solar  system, 
yet  numbering  with  equal  care  the  very  hairs  of 
our  head.  In  that  Divine  audit,  not  one  of  us  at  any 
time  can  be  *'  missing."  Amid  the  abundance,  not 
one  soul  and  not  one  morsel  of  bread  must  be  wasted. 
Here  is  a  ledger  in  which  all  the  figures  are  set  out 
without  concealment  or  chicanery,  an  example  for 
stock  exchange,  banker,  missionary  society,  merchant, 
company  promoter,  and  cathedral  chapter,  of  what 
is  meant  by  honest  finance.  We  realize  why  we  are 
told  that  gold,  in  the  City  of  God,  must  be  "  clear  as 
crystal."  And  we  appreciate  why  Zacchasus,  the  tax- 
gatherer,  on  meeting  Jesus,  at  once  began  to  apologize 
for  his  ledgers,  hoping  earnestly  that  all  would  be 
found  in  order. 

Insurance  companies,  which  reckon  up  our  days  on 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  JESUS  67 

scientific  principles,  habitually  refer  to  a  healthy  life 
as  a  good  life.  The  splendid  physique  which  enabled 
Jesus  to  do  His  work  at  such  high  pressure,  without 
displaying  irritation,  or  suffering  from  the  slightest 
trace  of  mental  or  bodily  strain,  was  the  direct  result 
of  His  daily  conduct.  He  who  became  Master  of 
others  was  complete  Master  of  Himself.  It  was  at 
the  end  of  what  we  call  Holy  Week,  after  clearing 
the  Temple  of  money-changers,  defeating  innumerable 
opponents  in  debate,  and  announcing  the  Iscariot's 
treachery,  then  actually  in  progress,  that  He  said, 
"  My  peace  I  leave  with  you  " — not  an  empty  greet- 
ing, as  the  Eastern  world  offers  "  peace,"  but  the 
abiding  calm  of  unchallengeable  self-control.  With 
so  much  to  fill  Him  with  foreboding.  He  refused  to 
worry  about  it,  but  lived  each  day  as  it  came,  holding 
that  sufficient  to  the  day  is  its  "  evil  " — by  which  He 
meant,  I  think,  the  difficulties  to  be  overcome,  the 
temptations  to  be  defeated,  and  the  troubles  to  be 
alleviated.  To  Him,  each  morrow  should  be  kept  at  a 
distance,  as  an  enemy  of  the  ever-priceless  present; 
and  while  His  habit  of  concentration  is  discoverable 
also  in  every  efficient  statesman  or  captain  of  industry, 
yet  with  Jesus  we  find  that  the  game  of  life  was 
played  with  an  easy,  inevitable  genius — what  Luke 
calls  "  grace  " — which  reminds  one  of  some  incom- 
parable athlete,  say  a  cricketer,  to  whom  no  delivery 
of  the  ball,  slow  or  fast,  straight  or  twisty,  comes 
as  a  surprise;  who  hits  with  certainty  all  round  the 
wicket,  yet,  to  the  end  of  the  innings,  preserves  his 
wicket  intact.  It  was  the  result  of  the  single  eye, 
as  Jesus  called  it,  assisted  by  constant  practice  and 
vigilant  training. 

There  was  much  prayer.    There  was  much  fasting 


68  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

or  self-denial.  But  it  was  not  the  prayer,  not  the 
fasting,  that  you  see  in  a  monastic  or  conventual 
institution.  Jesus  was  not  satisfied  unless  and  until 
His  disciples  were  able  to  stand  alone  in -the  open  street, 
calling  no  man  master  save  Himself,  and  looking  to 
Him  only  for  the  rule  of  life. 

The  Practical  Observer. 

With  His  mind  thus  constantly  at  ease,  and  His 
judgment  as  unruffled  as  a  mountain  tarn,  yet  as 
sensitive  as  that  tarn  to  every  breath  of  air  and  shaft 
of  light,  Jesus  was  quick  to  observe,  and  of  a  most 
tenacious  memory.  Having  younger  brothers  and 
sisters,  He  knew  how  to  mix  with  children,  who  re- 
garded Him  as  one  of  themselves;  and  even  when  they 
played  at  events  so  solemn  as  weddings  and  funerals, 
He  approved,  for  He  had  His  own  standards  for  test- 
ing irreverence.  Having  devoted  the  best  part  of  His 
life  to  helping  His  mother,  He  had  a  right  to  comment 
upon  what  will  ever  be  the  greatest  of  all  industries — 
that  is,  housekeeping;  and  when  Martha's  sense  of 
duties — which  is  not  the  same  as  a  sense  of  duty — 
invaded  the  inner  sanctuary  of  her  nature,  Jesus 
knew  how  to  put  the  case,  and  His  few  words  of  advice 
to  "  jMartha,  Martha,"  will,  for  all  time,  correct  the 
tendency,  in  home  and  in  church,  to  sacrifice  the 
eternal — the  real  life  within  us — to  the  harmless 
yet  temporary  and  trivial.  He  knew  about  spring 
cleaning — how  each  room  is  emptied,  then  swept  and 
finally  garnished;  and  He  preached  one  great  sermon 
on  washing-up — how  much  easier  it  is  to  cleanse  or 
wipe  the  outside  of  a  cup  or  platter  than  the  inside, 
as  some  of  us  (who  perhaps  did  not  notice  it  until  it 
was  pointed  out)  can  testify  from  our  own  war-work. 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  JESUS  69 

He  could  trim  a  lamp,  fill  it  with  oil,  and  set  it 
ready  on  the  lamp-stand;  and  with  homely  humor  He 
could  point  out  the  absurdity  of  covering  the  light  with 
a  bushel — the  symbol  of  trade  or  business  or  pro- 
fession— which  would,  in  fact,  not  only  prevent  illu- 
mination, but  extinguish  the  flame.  He  could  cook, 
being  able  to  broil  fish,  and  knowing  how  awkward 
it  is  to  dispose  of  salt  that  has  lost  its  savor.  He  was 
an  excellent  judge  of  building,  now  commenting  upon 
the  great  stones  of  the  Temple,  and  then  again 
criticizing  not  merely  the  convenience  of  some  house, 
which  is  what  most  of  us  think  about,  but  the  solidity 
of  its  foundations — whether  it  rests  on  sand  or  on 
rock,  and  how  far  it  is  exposed  to  and  can  resist  cloud- 
bursts. With  a  mind  bent  on  measuring  everything 
by  an  eternal  standard.  He  would  inquire  not  merely 
whether  an  edifice  is  beautiful,  but  will  it  last?  And 
one  appreciates  more  and  more  the  wonderful  sanity 
of  it  all.  Perhaps  the  climax  came  when,  as  a 
domestic  servant  or  slave,  Jesus  washed  the  weary 
feet  of  His  disciples.  One  likes  the  touch  that  He 
laid  aside  His  garments  and  girded  Himself  with  a 
towel — such  respect  for  common,  though  useful, 
things;  such  close  attention  to  a  humdrum  duty;  such 
complete  knowledge  of  how,  most  conveniently  and 
expeditiously,  it  is  to  be  performed.  When  He 
healed  the  paralytic,  He  also  bade  him  "  take  up  his 
bed."  When  He  raised  a  maiden  from  the  dead,  she 
was  to  be  given  "  something  to  eat."  When  Lazarus 
came  forth  from  the  tomb,  it  was  Jesus  who  told  the 
people  what  was  obvious,  that  they  should  loose  his 
grave-clothes.  And  when  He  rose  Himself  on 
Easter  Day,  He  left  His  wrappings  folded,  and  the 
napkin   about   His   head,    not   lying   with    the   linen 


70  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

clothes,  but  by  itself,  as  if,  by  instinct,  he  knew  in 
that  solemn  moment  that  a  nobler  material  had  been 
used  by  Joseph  of  Arimathea  to  bind  His  still  bleeding 
brow. 

Outdoor  Life. 

He  lived  much  out  of  doors.  He  so  arranged  His 
hours  that  He  could  work  while  it  was  day,  believing 
that  in  the  night  no  man  can  work.  His  life  was  thus 
a  plea  for  early  rising  and  for  avoidance  of  artificial 
hours — late  suppers,  midnight  dancing,  and  the  rest. 
From  the  sky,  He  could  form  an  opinion  of  next  day's 
weather.  He  knew  that  sheep  follow  the  shepherd, 
and  must  sometimes  be  carried.  In  the  morning,  He 
listened  until  He  heard  the  cock  crow.  And  He  liked 
to  see  how  a  hen  gathers  her  chickens  under  her  wing. 
He  could  distinguish  between  wheat  and  tares.  As  a 
carpenter,  He  knew  how  to  fit  a  yoke  without  galling 
the  animal's  neck.  He  had  watched  the  pruning  of  a 
vine.  He  was  the  best  of  fishermen  on  the  Lake  of 
Galilee,  and  He  could  tell  you  how  fish  are  sorted,  the 
good  from  the  bad.  He  could  ride  on  an  ass.  He  had 
studied  the  camel.  He  had  lived  among  wild  beasts, 
and  knew  the  wolf.  He  was  familiar — too  familiar — 
with  the  thorn;  and  with  the  fig-tree  and  the  syca- 
more, which  did  not  conceal  from  Him  the  diminutive 
form  of  Zacchaeus.  He  was  worshiped  with  branches 
of  palm,  and  He  first,  in  one  gem  of  purest  poetry, 
called  on  us  to  "  consider  the  lilies  of  the  field,  how 
they  grow;  they  toil  not,  they  spin  not;  yet  Solomon 
in  all  his  glory  was  not  arrayed  like  one  of  these." 

Thus  it  was  that  He  became  so  attractive,  because 
so  helpful  a  preacher.  His  mind  being  stored  with 
accurate  impressions  of  all  around  Him,  He  did  not 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  JESUS  71 

prepare  His  sermons,  and  advised  us  also  to  take  no 
anxious  thought  what  we  shall  say — let  the  Spirit 
suggest.  He  spoke  with  authority — the  authority 
of  actual  experience — and  not  as  the  scribes,  who 
depended  on  their  libraries.  Then,  as  now,  women 
valued  Him  because  He  took  their  house-work  seri- 
ously— far  more  seriously  than  He  took  the  politics  of 
the  Roman  Empire.  Workmen  of  all  kinds  respected 
His  judgment,  because  they  recognized  in  life  as  in 
death  the  print  of  their  nails  on  His  hands.  As  to 
education — that  home,  that  workshop,  that  mother — 
the  daily  round,  the  common  task — did  in  very  truth 
furnish  all  He  needed  to  ask. 


CHRIST  THE  QUESTIONER 

Resolver  of  Perplexities — "Things  added" — The  Practice  of 
Obedience. 

WHEN  Jesns  was  a  boy  of  twelve  years  old, 
He  did  not  seem  to  have  one  enemy  in  the 
whole  wide  world.  Herod  was  dead;  Archelaus  had 
been  deposed;  Joseph's  sleep  was  untroubled  by 
dreams;  and  no  one  appeared  to  associate  the 
growing  lad  with  the  Babe  of  Bethlehem,  who  vanished 
into  obscurity  with  the  old  King's  final  massacre. 
Thus  it  was  that,  when  He  visited  Jerusalem  on  what 
we  to-day  should  call  a  Bank  Holiday,  He  was 
allowed  by  His  parents  to  wander  about  that  turbulent 
city  without  let  or  hindrance,  unafraid  of  the  cosmo- 
politan crowds  or  of  the  garrison  of  rough,  foreign 
soldiers.  There  was  not  one  circumstance  to  suggest 
that  here  was  the  city  which  had  already  hatched  a 
plot  to  destroy  Him;  nor,  when  He  met  the  Rabbis, 
would  anyone  have  imagined  that  this  was  in  fact  the 
tribunal  which,  at  length,  would  demand  His  execu- 
tion as  a  felon,  guilty  of  blasphemy. 

What  impressed  the  writers  of  the  Old  Testament 
was  too  often  the  magnificence  of  Jerusalem,  her  gates 
and  her  walls,  the  gold  and  purple  of  her  Temple, 

72 


CHRIST  THE  QUESTIONER  73 

and  the  silver  trumpets  that  sounded  in  her  courts. 
To  all  this  was  now  added  the  pomp  of  Rome.  Jesus 
was  ever  conscious  of  greater  glories  than  these; 
He  spoke  of  angels  and  God's  throne  and  of  the  many 
mansions  reserved  for  us  in  heaven,  as  familiarly  as 
we  speak  of  streets  and  shops  and  gardens.  Hence 
when,  years  later,  His  disciples  asked  Him  to  notice 
the  Temple,  which  to  them,  though  not  to  Him,  was 
so  wonderful  a  spectacle,  His  only  comment  was  that 
not  one  stone  should  be  left  on  the  other,  since  all 
would  be  thrown  down.  He  measured  that  mighty 
edifice  in  terms,  not  of  years  but  of  centuries,  and 
so  reduced  it,  as  He  reduced  all  human  institutions, 
to  the  perspective  of  eternity.  When  left  to  His 
own  devices,  what  interested  Him,  whether  as  boy 
or  man,  was  not  the  Temple  as  such,  but  the  people 
inside  the  Temple — the  doctors,  the  money-changers, 
and  the  sinful  woman;  and  He  realized  that  even  if 
the  Temple  were  destroyed,  like  our  cathedrals,  by  the 
shock  of  war,  the  soul  of  man  would  rise  triumphant 
above  the  ruins. 


Resolver  of  Perplexities. 

Paul,  when  a  boy,  went  to  the  Temple  and  sat  as 
a  disciple  at  the  feet  of  Gamaliel,  as  if  the  only 
authority  to  be  recognized  by  youth  is  the  authority 
of  the  past.  Jesus  sat  at  no  man's  feet.  Wherever 
He  went,  whether  it  be  to  a  synagogue,  a  wedding 
feast,  the  seaside,  a  lonely  mountain,  the  river 
Jordan,  the  judgment  hall,  the  Upper  Room,  or 
Calvary,  our  Lord  always  seemed  to  be  the  Central 
Figure  of  the  scene ;  and  here  in  the  Temple,  appearing 
as  an  equal  in  the  midst  of  the  Rabbis,  He  asserted 
by  His  presence  that  the   future  has  its  claim,  as 


74  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

sacred  as  the  claim  of  the  past,  for  which  future  every 
boy  and  every  girl  is  the  appointed  trustee.  It  is 
the  business  of  a  trustee  to  ask  questions ;  not  to  be 
satisfied  until  he  understands  all  about  the  inheritance 
for  which  he  is  responsible;  what  wrongs  there  are 
that  should  be  righted;  what  burdens  that  are  un- 
equally distributed;  what  customs  are  hindering 
instead  of  helping;  what  beliefs  are  imperfectly 
apprehended.  Since  that  day  in  the  Temple,  Jesus 
has  been  the  central  problem  for  the  historian,  the 
philosopher,  the  scientist,  the  scholar,  the  politician, 
and  the  social  reformer,  of  every  generation.  He 
constantly  asks  questions;  and  just  as  we  do  not 
read  that  the  doctors  of  Jerusalem  supplied  any 
answers — indeed,  what  astonished  them  was  the 
answers  of  Jesus — so  in  every  generation  all  the 
wisdom  of  the  world  has  to  return  to  Him  as  the  only 
Resolver  of  perplexities.  He  is  the  Eternal  Child, 
ever  in  our  midst;  not  only  trustful,  not  only  innocent, 
but  also  observant,  listening  to  what  we  say  more 
carefully  than  we  say  it,  and  then  quietly  but  irre- 
sistibly asking  us  the  reason  why.  The  slum,  the 
public-house,  the  war — He  watches  them  all,  and 
would  have  our  explanations.  He  does  not  say  in 
so  many  words  that  war  is  wrong  or  slavery  is  wrong; 
but  He  asks  us — Is  war  right?  Is  slavery  right? 
What  He  desires  to  stimulate  is  our  own  conscience, 
which  He  would  arouse  to  activity  until  it  beats  as 
sensitively  as  His  own. 

And  it  is  His  custom  to  test  all  that  we  do  by  its 
effect  on  the  children  in  our  midst.  He  sees  them 
outside  the  swing  doors  of  the  public-house.  It  is 
with  their  eyes  that  He  watches  the  pictures  that 
we  show  them.     He  feels  every  hurt  that  war  inflicts 


CHRIST  THE  QUESTIONER  75 

on   them.     He  insists   on   reducing  all  theology  to 
terms  that  they  can  understand. 

All  through  His  ministry  Jesus  taught  by  questions. 
We  lay  down  creeds  and  tell  people  to  repeat  them. 
Jesus  drafted  a  catechism  in  which  each  of  us  is  left 
to  fill  in  the  replies.  He  did  not  seek,  like  a  drill- 
sergeant,  to  command  assent,  for  this  would  have 
blighted  initiative.  He  preferred  to  evoke  our  assent, 
so  that  all  who  follow  Him — as  the  one  supreme 
Inspirer  of  education — do  so  of  their  own  free  will. 
He  might  have  asserted  that  He  was  sinless.  He 
chose  to  ask  which  of  us  can  convict  Him  of  sin; 
and  though  millions  have  heard  the  challenge,  no 
onehas  yet  corne_forward  to  respgrxd  tQ  it.  He 
miglithave  told  His  disciples  pfainly :  "I  am  the 
Son  of  God."  Instead,  He  asked  them  what  men 
were  saying  on  the  matter,  and,  with  special  emphasis, 
what  their  own  view  was.  He  might  have  proclaimed 
aloud  His  risen  majesty.  He  preferred  to  inquire  of 
Mary  Magdalene :  "  Why  weepest  thou  ?  Whom 
seekest  thou  ?  "  His  inquiries  were  a  holy  office  in 
which  there  was  no  torture,  no  dungeon,  but  only 
candor,  sympathy,  and  the  light  of  day.  His  was 
a  propaganda  devoid  of  rancor  or  persecution.  His 
saving  of  men  is  a  personal  negotiation  between  the 
individual  and  Himself — that  or  nothing — and  the 
only  infallibility  that  we  need  recognize  is  His  voice, 
as  each  man  or  woman  hears  it. 

"  Things  added." 

What  He  organized  was  a  Church,  every  member 
of  which  was  individually  to  search  the  Scriptures, 
scan  the  horizon  of  history,  study  the  mystery  of 
pain  and  disease,  and  apply  His  Spirit  of  Truth  to 


76  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

every  relation  of  life.  And  this  is  why  Christianity 
in  every  era  unlooses  the  energies  of  men,  sending 
them  forth  as  pioneers,  now  into  the  depths  of  the 
coal-mine,  then,  again,  aloft,  as  on  wings,  above  the 
clouds;  then  to  the  chill  solitudes  of  Arctic  ice;  yet 
not  forgetting  the  pathless  forests  of  Equatorial 
Africa.  The  telescope  is  Christian ;  the  microscope 
is  Christian;  the  locomotive  is  Christian;  telegraphy 
is  Christian;  steamships  are  Christian;  Christian, 
that  is,  in  ultimate  origin — the  things  that  are  added 
unto  those  who  first  seek  the  Kingdom  of  God.  To 
what  uses  we  devote  these  gifts  is  a  matter  on  which 
we  must  give  our  answer  before  His  judgment-seat. 
And  one  reason  why  we  are  constantly  cursed  with 
wars  is  that  sometimes  nations  have  used  for  aggres- 
sive ends  those  great  powers  of  the  mind  which  He 
liberated  from  superstition  and  barbarism.  He  cannot 
offer  us  the  plowshare  without  also  offering  us  the 
sword.  On  Christendom  lies  the  choice  which  shall  be 
grasped.  In  Him  is  Science;  with  us  is  the  question 
whether  Science  shall  slay  or  heal. 

Not  one  detail  of  our  Lord's  first  conversation  with 
the  Rabbis  has  been  recorded.  These  men  of  the 
letter  that  killeth  let  slip  every  syllable  of  His  first 
wonderful  teaching.  They  were  astonished,  not  by 
His  truth,  which  is  everlasting,  but  by  His  youth, 
which  was  accidental.  If  they  had  had  their  way 
with  Him,  they  would  have  advertised  His  precocity, 
accepting  Him,  not  as  the  Lord  of  Life,  but  as  an 
infant  prodigy — a  boy  preacher,  a  religious  sensation. 
And  when — if  I  may  set  out  a  hypothesis — He  had 
grown  to  man's  estate,  their  interest  would  have 
waned,  for  not  one  of  them  accepted  Him  as  Messiah 
— not  one,  by  which  I  mean  that  not  one  of  them 


CHRIST  THE  QUESTIONER  77 

submitted  himself  to  the  will  of  our  Lord :  they 
discussed  Him — they  admired  Him — but  obedience 
—No! 

When  Mary  burst  in  on  Him,  she  had  apparent 
cause  for  complaint.  The  feast  days  were  ended. 
Jesus  must  have  known  that  it  was  time  to  return  to 
Nazareth.  They  had  sought  for  Him  anxiously,  first 
among  kinsfolk,  then  among  acquaintances;  and 
they  had  returned  a  whole  day's  journey  to  Jerusalem. 
Why  had  He  thus  dealt  with  them?  Theirs  was  the 
usual  complaint  of  parents,  who  habitually  blame 
their  children  less  for  doing  wrong  than  for  giving 
trouble!  Joseph  and  Mary  loved  Jesus  dearly,  were 
ready  to  feed  Him  and  clothe  Him  and  teach  Him, 
but  were  apt  to  overlook  His  aim  in  life.  The  two 
questions  which  Jesus  addressed  to  them  were  His 
earliest  recorded  words.  However  careless  the  Rabbis 
might  be,  Mary  did  not  forget  to  commit  those 
questions  to  memory.  Her  heart  at  least  was  not 
stony,  but  good  ground.  Why  was  it  that  she  and 
Joseph  had  to  seek  Him  so  sorrowfully?  Because 
they  had  left  Him  to  live  His  inner  life  alone.  And 
why  had  His  earthly  guardian  been  thus  alienated? 
Because  he  had  forgotten  that  the  supreme  duty  of 
man  is  the  business  of  a  Heavenly  Father — that  the 
Son  of  Man  is  also  Son  of  God, 

The  Practice  of  Obedience. 

Throughout  our  Lord's  life,  there  was  about  "the 
third  day "  a  mysterious  and  deliberate  splendor. 
He  spoke  of  Jonah's  three  days  and  three  nights  in 
the  whale's  belly,  and  said  that  so  would  the  Son  of 
Man  be  three  days  and  three  nights  in  the  heart  of  the 
earth.     He  said  that  if  they  destroyed  the  Temple, 


78  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

in  three  days  He  would  rebuild  it  in  His  own  body. 
It  was  on  the  third  day  after  His  call  of  the  first 
disciples  that,  at  the  marriage  feast,  He  revealed 
Himself  in  miracle.  It  was  on  the  third  day  that 
He  set  forth  to  raise  Lazarus  from  the  dead.  The 
third  day  was  His  day  of  resurrection;  and  when,  on 
the  third  day,  His  parents  returned  to  Jerusalem — 
the  hope  of  His  Messiahship  buried  beneath  years  of 
disappointment — He  raised  that  hope  from  the  grave 
and  inspired  them  once  more  with  His  greatness.  The 
great  acts  of  His  life  were  thus  unhurried.  Instant 
as  was  the  working  of  His  mind,  there  were  supreme 
decisions  at  which  He  declined  to  arrive  until,  for 
days  and  nights,  He  had  waited  upon  the  will  of  His 
Father. 

After  this  visit  to  the  Temple,  He  went  down 
with  His  parents, — what  an  expressive  phrase! — 
descending,  as  it  were,  from  the  high  tableland  of 
dogma  to  the  plains  of  duty,  and  turned  His  back 
on  Jerusalem  and  His  face  to  Nazareth,  without  one 
person  suggesting  that  here  surely  was  a  sacrifice  of 
priceless  opportunity  which  ought  somehow  to  be 
avoided.  During  that  apprenticeship,  Jesus  was  not 
a  king,  but — in  Scriptural  words — "  a  subject." 
Until  He  had  spent  that  long  period  upon  the  practice 
of  obedience.  He  did  not  venture  on  public  work. 
Insight,  eloquence,  ambition — how  easy  are  these 
accomplishments,  compared  with  humility,  self- 
restraint,  perseverance!  As  He  obeyed,  so  He  grew, 
thus  becoming  a  favorite,  not  by  caprice,  nor  by 
accident,  but  by  merit.  Also,  He  was  a  growing 
favorite.  As  His  stature  increased,  so  did  His 
faculties,  and  every  faculty  was  devoted  to  worship  and 
service.     Like  the  Rabbis  who  talked  with  Him,  the 


CHRIST  THE  QUESTIONER  79 

neighbors  also  admired  Him ;  but,  like  the  Rabbis, 
they  did  not  feel  His  personal  claim  on  them.  They 
did  not  accept  Him. 

Till  the  end  of  His  days  Christ  might  (as  some 
hold)  have  lived  as  an  Example — dignifying  labor, 
consecrating  disease,  glorifying  old  age,  calmly  en- 
during a  natural  death;  but  He  achieved  greater 
things.  Such  lives  teach  us  great  lessons.  Joseph, 
the  husband  of  Mary,  lived  precisely  thus,  and  thus  he 
died.  But  Jesus  knew  that  man  was  created  in  the 
image  of  God,  and  that  while  his  limbs  were  molded 
for  labor,  his  soul  was  inspired  for  dominion.  To 
avoid  evil,  to  suffer  disease,  to  endure  death,  to  accept 
the  grave,  was  not  enough.  Evil,  and  disease,  and 
death,  and  the  grave  must  be  subdued,  conquered, 
trampled  underfoot.  Adam  with  his  spade  had  been 
overcome;  Christ  must  wield  the  sword.  Adam 
had  named  the  universe;  Christ  must  judge  it.  To 
serve  men  was  good,  but  to  win  them  was  better; 
while  to  enable  them  to  win  one  another  was  best  of 
all.  If  there  had  been  any  doubt  about  it,  this  doubt 
would  have  been  dispelled  by  the  challenging  voice  of 
John  the  Baptist,  preaching  in  the  wilderness  of 
Judea.  To  the  echo  of  that  trumpet-call  Jesus 
listened;  listening.  He  recognized  "  the  word  of 
God."  He  laid  aside  His  tools  for  ever;  He  walked 
to  the  banks  of  the  Jordan. 


XI 
CHRIST  IN  THE  CONGREGATION 

John  the  Baptist — The  Kingdom  of  Heaven — Known  by  Fruit. 

THE  bank  clerk  who,  to  the  surprise  of  his  friends, 
wins  the  Victoria  Cross,  had  that  sudden  courage 
latent  in  him  when  he  sat  behind  the  counter.  Nurse 
Cavell  was  all  that  we  now  know  years  before  she  faced 
the  firing  party.  It  is  not  the  limelight  that  makes 
the  actor,  nor  the  battle  the  general;  and  when  Jesus, 
after  eighteen  years  of  obscurity  at  Nazareth,  stepped 
forth  upon  the  stage  of  history,  there  to  play  His 
unapproachable  part,  what  happened  was  only  that 
a  veil  was  withdrawn.  As  His  most  intimate  friend 
put  it,  the  Christ  was  manifested,  or  displayed,  or 
shown  to  the  world.  The  unsearchable  resources  of 
His  character  shone  forth  with  less  and  less  reserve, 
until  at  last  He  was  lifted  up,  and  so  drew  all  men 
unto  Him. 

Luke  tells  us  that  for  fifteen  of  the  eighteen  silent 
years  Tiberias  Csesar  reigned  at  Rome.  If  ever  a 
monarch  had  the  chance  of  bettering  mankind,  it 
was  he;  but  when  Jesus  came,  the  sick  still  lay  in  the 
streets,  the  lepers  still  rotted  in  wretched  isolation; 
and  while  legions  of  soldiers  garrisoned  the  Empire, 
legions  of  devils  tormentctl  the  heart.    In  one  of  those 

80 


CHRIST  IN  THE  CONGREGATION         81 

verses  which  at  first  sight  seem  to  be  fuller  of  un- 
familiar names  than  of  spiritual  consolation,  Luke 
records  that  Pontius  Pilate  was  governor  of  Judea, 
Herod  Antipas  was  tetrarch  of  Galilee,  Philip  was 
tetrarch  of  Itursea  and  Trachonitis,  and  Lysanias 
tetrarch  of  Abilene.  The  Promised  Land  was  thus 
in  utter  subjection  to  foreigners.  Its  unity  was 
shattered.  Its  provinces  had  lost  their  ancient  and 
sacred  titles;  and  where  the  Prophets  spoke  of 
Zebulun  and  Naphtali,  the  Evangelists  make  mention 
of  Galilee  and  Decapolis.  In  the  golden  days  of 
liberation,  Moses  and  Aaron  had  themselves  led  the 
people;  but  Annas  and  Caiaphas,  their  successors  in 
the  high-priesthood,  had  to  yield  precedence  to 
tetrarchs  and  proconsuls,  and,  even  in  the  Gospel,  are 
mentioned  last  in  the  long  list  of  dignitaries.  Every 
theory  of  government  had  been  tried,  only  to  break 
down.  Under  the  Judges,  a  republic  failed ;  and  under 
the  Kings  a  monarchy.  With  Ezra  and  Nehemiah, 
what  we  should  call  home-rule  was  established;  yet 
with  the  fall  of  the  Maccabees  the  nation  again  suc- 
cumbed to  despotism. 

John  the  Baptist. 

But  among  peasantry  and  fishermen  there  still 
smoldered  the  embers  of  liberty.  John  the  Baptist, 
had  he  so  desired,  would  have  been  an  ideal  leader 
of  revolt,  and  of  the  new  monarchy  the  Lord  Jesus 
would  have  been  an  ideal  King.  The  times  seemed 
to  be  ripe.  Among  our  Lord's  chosen  apostles  was 
Simon,  who  belonged  to  the  Zealots,  or  national  party. 
The  sons  of  Zebedee,  after  years  of  communion  with 
Jesus,  were  so  little  touched  by  His  ideals  that  they 
asked  to  sit,  the  one  to  the  right  and  the  other  to  the 


82  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

left  of  His  temporal  throne.  The  people  themselves 
wanted  to  take  Him  by  force  and  make  Him  a  King; 
and  when  He  was  awaiting  His  ascension,  the  last 
error  to  be  dispelled  from  the  minds  of  His  followers 
was  that  He  would  then  set  up  the  Kingdom  of  Israel. 
It  was  with  such  a  sovereignty  that  the  Devil  tempted 
Him  in  the  wilderness;  the  soldiers  thus  mocked  Him 
in  Herod's  palace,  and  Pontius  Pilate  pinned  that 
same  superscription  to  His  cross. 

It  was  the  supreme  service  of  John  that,  breathing 
this  dangerous  air,  he  avoided  all  such  sedition  against 
the  civil  power  as  Fenianism  and  Sinn  Fein,  and 
announced  a  kingdom,  not  of  earth,  but  limitless  as 
the  heavens;  a  revolution,  not  of  states,  but  of  souls; 
a  release,  not  from  despotism,  but  from  sins.  Leaving 
the  kings  on  their  thrones,  he  proclaimed  the  imme- 
diate and  eternal  responsibility  of  the  sovereign  people. 
What  concerned  him  was  not  Herod  the  tetrarch,  but 
Herod  the  husband.  John  died,  not  to  liberate  his 
country,  but  to  defend  its  insulted  morality;  and 
Jesus  Himself  steadily  refused  to  be  party  to  a  revolt 
which,  as  He  foretold  with  tears,  would  one  day  deluge 
Jerusalem  in  blood. 

From  that  doomed  city  where,  amid  the  ritual, 
hearts  remained  unsatisfied;  from  Judea,  from  the 
Jordan  valley,  crowds  flocked  to  hear  John's  preach- 
ing. Jesus  quietly  joined  them,  not  as  a  rival  teacher, 
but,  with  incomparable  humility,  as  a  disciple,  un- 
marked amid  the  multitude,  save  by  John  himself,  and 
then  only  after  an  interval.  With  Christ  in  the  pulpit 
we  are  familiar;  but  here  we  have  Christ  in  the  pew, 
the  divine  Layman,  who  does  not  criticize  the  sermon 
or  discuss  the  style  of  it,  but  receives  it  with  reverence 
as  "  the  word  of  God  "  to  Him,  and  so  ponders  over 


CHRIST  IN  THE  CONGREGATION         83 

it.  There  was  not  a  sentence  spoken  by  John  that 
Jesus  did  not  remember  and  hand  on  to  others.  If 
John  said,  "  Repent  ye,  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
is  at  hand,"  then  this  was  what  Jesus  also  preached 
when  He  began  His  ministry.  When  the  Twelve 
were  sent  forth,  and  after  them  the  Seventy,  they  were 
bidden,  each  in  turn,  to  preach  John's  Good  Tidings  of 
the  Kihgdom.  John  so  spoke  that  what  he  said  could 
be  preached  over  again  by  the  Saviour  Himself  in  per- 
son, and  could  be  spread  abroad  by  His  missionaries, 
alike  among  Jews  and  Gentiles — everywhere  reaching 
men's  hearts.  For  addresses,  sermons,  hymns,  articles 
in  the  newspapers,  speeches,  one  can  imagine  no 
severer  test. 

The  Kingdom  of  Heaven. 

Not  that  Jesus  repeated  John's  words  by  rote, 
or  heedlessly.  On  the  contrary.  He  enriched  the 
original  theme,  until  it  was  merged  in  His  own  grander 
music,  as  a  symphony  gathers  around  some  simple 
motive.  In  Matthew,  we  read  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven,  or  of  happiness — meaning  that  happiness, 
like  a  kingdom,  has  its  frontiers,  its  laws,  its  defenses, 
its  discipline.  But  Luke  uses  a  different  term — the 
Kingdom  of  God — showing  that,  apart  from  God's 
rule,  there  is  no  rule  of  happiness.  Jesus,  observing 
as  He  did  that  the  people  constantly  misunderstand 
the  meaning  of  happiness,  teaches  us  that  the  Kingdom 
has  its  "  mysteries  "  or  State  secrets,  which  can  only 
be  indicated  by  parables.  It  is  like  unresisting  leaven, 
which  a  woman  can  handle  at  will,  but  which  spreads 
its  influence  slowly  but  surely,  and  in  utter  silence, 
until  all  is  leavened,  and  the  meal  which  would  have 
choked  us  is  transformed  into  the  bread  that  sustains 


84  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

us.  Small  in  origin  as  is  a  mustard-seed,  it  is  of  an 
intense  life,  and  so  grows  into  the  greatest  of  all  trees, 
in  the  branches  of  which — Anglican,  it  may  be,  or 
Congregational,  or  Salvationist — many  anomalies  and 
even  abuses  may  shelter,  injuring  the  fruit,  but  no 
more  able  than  the  birds  of  the  air  to  destroy  the  rising 
sap — the  inward  vitality  of  the  divinely-planted 
Church.  The  Kingdom  of  Heaven  is  a  treasure  hid- 
den in  the  field  of  a  man's  daily  duty,  to  obtain  which 
treasure  he  will  sell  all  that  he  hath — ambition,  lux- 
uries, indulgences — because  that  special  field,  so  unat- 
tractive to  others,  has  become  for  him  the  one  place  of 
happiness.  Amid  all  pearls — art,  literature,  beauty, 
social  success — it  is  so  much  the  greatest  of  pearls,  that 
men  and  women — the  goodly  merchants  of  their  time 
and  opportunities — sacrifice  all  the  rest  to  obtain  that 
one  final  reward  of  wise  spiritual  leading.  Being 
within  us,  the  Kingdom  is  safe  against  those  who 
would  destroy  the  body  but  cannot  hurt  the  soul;  yet 
we  cannot  win  it  by  our  own  unaided  efforts.  John 
preached  repentance,  a  change  of  mind,  as  passport  to 
the  Kingdom;  but  Jesus,  with  His  profounder  insight, 
realized  that  evil  must  be  expelled,  as  well  as  forsworn. 
"  If,"  said  He,  "  I  cast  out  devils  by  the  Spirit  of  God, 
then  the  Kingdom  of  God  is  come  unto  you."  Thus, 
in  half  a  dozen  tremendous  words,  John's  simple  idea 
of  God's  monarchy  is  elaborated  into  a  vision  of  God 
the  Father,  as  Sovereign;  God  the  Son,  as  Conqueror; 
and  God  the  Spirit,  as  Living  Force — a  Trinity,  not 
academic,  nor  theological,  but  present,  practical, 
omnipotent — a  challenge,  here  and  now,  to  the  league 
of  actual  devils,  which  have  usurped  the  soul  of  man. 
With  Jesus  thus  listening,  John  fearlessly  told 
the  Jews  that  "  patriotism  is  not  enough."     Summing 


CHRIST  IN  THE  CONGREGATION         85 

up  the  prophetic  warnings,  he  said  that  nations,  hke 
certain  trees,  must  be  known  by  their  fruits,  and  that 
already  the  inevitable  ax  of  retribution  was  laid — 
not  at  the  branches  or  outlying  synagogues  or  colonies 
of  Judaism,  but  at  its  root  and  center.  That  terrible 
simile  is  based  on  the  shrewdly  observed  botanical 
fact  thiSkt,  as  a  rule,  the  wood  of  fruit-trees  is  useless 
save  as  fuel,  so  that  in  planting  our  gardens  we  must 
choose  between  the  trees  that  refresh  our  life  and  the 
trees  that  add  to  our  furniture.  To  the  memory  of  our 
Lord  the  ominous  parable  constantly  recurred.  Do 
men  gather  grapes  of  thorns — He  would  ask — or  figs 
of  thistles?  His  one  miracle  of  destruction  was  the 
withering  of  a  barren  yet  leafy  fig-tree,  growing  there 
under  the  walls  of  Jerusalem;  a  perpetual  sign  against 
that  city's  abundance  of  empty  professions. 

Known  by  Fruit. 

John  spoke  of  nations  simply  as  trees  of  the  forest, 
planted  each  by  itself,  and  afterwards  decaying.  Jesus 
enriched  the  parable  by  suggesting  that  His  followers 
would  be  branches  growing  from  one  stem  or  trunk — 
what  Isaiah  called  the  stem  of  Jesse — which  would 
be  His  own  self,  sharing  life  with  all  who  desire  it. 
He  compared  Himself,  not  with  the  oak,  or  elm,  or 
cedar,  the  heroes  of  the  forest;  but  with  the  vine, 
which  cannot  rear  itself  one  yard  from  the  earth 
without  support,  and  every  tendril  of  which  is  guided 
constantly  hither  and  thither.  Jesus,  who  com- 
manded the  winds  and  waves,  was  of  all  men  most 
dependent  upon  prayer  and  fasting,  and  perfectly 
responsive  to  God's  care. 

John  thought  of  God  as  the  Forester,  whose  keen 
eye  judges  the  trees,  so  that  one  is  spared  and  another 


86  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

hewn  down.  To  Jesus,  the  Father  is  a  Husbandman, 
who  uses,  not  an  ax  to  destroy,  but  a  knife  to  prune, 
so  that  what  is  fruitful  may  increase  in  fruit-bearing, 
and  only  the  dead  be  removed.  John  discerned 
national  decay  as  a  fact.  Jesus  probed  the  causes  of 
it.  In  the  vine,  mere  wood  becomes  mere  rubbish. 
The  branch  is  only  healthy  as  a  vehicle  for  the  life- 
sap  to  reach  the  ripening  grapes.  Riches — religion — 
power — these  are  all  to  be  tested  by  the  love,  the  joy, 
the  peace  which  they  produce;  and  love,  joy,  peace 
are  the  fruits,  not  of  the  branch  by  itself,  but  of  the 
True  Vine,  of  which  the  branch  is  a  part. 


XII 
THE  GENERATION  OF  VIPERS 

Within  and  Without — "  They  say  and  do  not  "—Essential  Dis- 
tinctions— One  is  your  Master. 

TO  the  Jews,  as  to  other  ancient  nations,  geog- 
raphy was  itself  a  symbol.  From  the  historic 
day  when  the  prophet  Elisha  called  upon  Naaman 
the  Syrian  to  bathe  his  leprosy  seven  times  in  the 
river  Jordan,  and  so  be  healed  of  his  plague,  that 
famous  stream,  descending,  as  its  name  implies,  to  a 
sea  of  death,  seemed  to  be  washing  away  the  impurities 
of  a  people.  The  ordinance  of  baptism,  which  John 
there  instituted,  thus  expressed  a  familiar  idea.  To 
the  multitudes,  as  to  Naaman's  servants,  it  was 
simple  enough  merely  to  wash  and  be  clean.  Thou- 
sands of  penitents  were  so  immersed,  confessing  their 
sins;  and  so  widespread  was  the  Revival  that  John's 
disciples  also  baptized,  while,  a  few  months  later,  the 
followers  of  Jesus — acting,  it  would  appear,  on  their 
own  responsibility — administered  the  rite  even  more 
frequently. 

Baptismal  regeneration  became  a  vogue.  The  cure 
for  all  evil  was  to  be  no  longer  those  oft-repeated 
Temple  sacrifices,  but  an  enthusiasm  for  cold  water, 
for  fresh  air,  for  locusts  and  wild  honey — what  we  call 

87 


88  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

the  simple  life!  And  if  hygiene  could  have  saved 
mankind,  if  vegetarianism,  or  total  abstinence,  or 
fish  on  a  Friday,  could  have  redeemed  the  heart,  the 
problem  of  sin  would  have  been  easily  solved.  But, 
at  an  early  moment  in  the  mission,  the  two  groups  of 
reformers  differed  over  what  is  really  meant  by  puri- 
fication; and  Jesus,  wasting  no  time  over  argument, 
quietly  left  the  Jordan,  and  made  His  way  to  Galilee, 
baptizing  no  one,  whether  in  river  or  in  lake,  and  find- 
ing His  work,  not  in  the  empty  wilderness,  but  at  the 
well  of  Samaria,  where,  to  a  poor  woman,  whose  char- 
acter had  been  wrecked,  He  offered,  not  the  external 
ceremony  which,  cleanses  the  body,  but  the  living 
waters  which  cleanse  and  refresh  the  soul  within.  It 
was  not  until  He  had  settled  with  sin  that  He  ordained 
baptism  for  His  Church,  to  be  a  symbol,  wide  as  the 
world,  of  an  otherwise  accomplished  fact. 

Within  and  Without. 

What  healed  Naaman  was  not  the  river  Jordan  as 
such,  but  a  faith  in  God,  seven  times  tested.  By 
the  ghauts  of  Benares  we  may  see  to-day  how  useless 
it  is  for  men  and  women  to  put  their  trust  in  a  sacred 
stream,  while  a  redemption  which  depends  on  habits 
inevitably  develops,  not  happiness  of  mind,  but  caste. 
Jesus  did  not  undervalue  the  externals  of  life.  He 
washed  the  feet  of  His  disciples,  and  He  rebuked 
Simon  the  Pharisee  because  he  forgot  to  bring  water 
for  that  ablution.  Slovenliness  was  no  part  of  our 
Lord's  piety.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  He  would  have 
us  "  hear  and  understand."  When  He  washed  the 
disciples'  feet,  He  was  thinking,  not  only  of  the  dust 
of  the  roadside,  but  of  the  dignity  of  menial  service. 
In  His  own  incomparable  manner  He   was  thereby 


THE  GENERATION  OF  VIPERS  89 

rebuking  those  twelve  men,  not  one  of  whom  had 
offered  to  do  that  humble  work  for  the  others  and  for 
Him.  When  He  spoke  to  Simon,  He  was  teaching, 
not  cleanliness  merely,  valuable  though  that  is,  but 
courtes}i<.  And,  similarly,  He  denied  that  food,  even 
if  eaten  with  unwashen  hands,  as  may  sometimes 
happen,  can  defile  a  man.  It  is  what  comes  from  us, 
and  especially  from  our  mouths,  that  defiles  us;  and 
when  Peter  asked  Him  to  expound  this  most  candid 
of  all  His  parables.  He  answered  plainly  that  "  out  of 
the  heart  proceed  evil  thoughts,  murders,  adulteries, 
thefts,  false  witness,  blasphemies."  We  deal  with 
crime  by  imprisoning  the  criminal,  adding  bondage  of 
body  to  bondage  of  soul.  Our  Lord  set  the  prisoner 
free,  delivering  him  from  the  law,  and  substituting 
His  new  commandment  of  love,  which  makes  a  man 
forsake  evil  because  he  desires  to  do  good.  In 
etiquette,  as  in  every  social  accomplishment,  Jesus 
was  perfect;  He  was  always  entirely  at  His  ease  in 
any  company,  but  He  knew  that  etiquette  is  a  conceal-' 
ment.  His  constant  accusation  against  the  scribes 
was  that  they  were  hypocrites,  or  mask-wearers,  and 
His  chief  concern  was  what  lay  behind. 

Great  preachers  usually  feel  flattered  by  a  large  and 
fashionable  congregation.  John,  on  the  other  hand, 
was  indignant.  It  was  the  quality  of  a  Church,  its 
sincerity  and  true  repentance,  that  alone  mattered  to 
him.  The  Pharisees  and  the  Sadducees  were  at 
variance  over  that  vital  matter  the  Resurrection,  but 
it  was  not  merely  their  theology  that  disturbed  either 
the  Baptist  or  our  Lord.  What  Christ  noticed  was 
the  broad  phylactery,  or  obtrusion  of  the  Scriptures, 
by  those  who  did  not  obey  them,  the  enlarged  borders 
to  the  garments — what  we  should  call  frock-coats — 


90  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

bespeaking  a  holiness  that  costs  nothing  except  a 
tailors  bill;  the  keen  desire  for  the  uppermost  rooms 
at  feasts,  that  is,  for  social  status,  and  for  the  chief 
seats  in  the  synagogues,  or,  as  we  should  put  it,  re- 
ligious preferment;  and,  last  but  not  least,  for  greet- 
ings in  the  market-place — to  which  we  may  compare 
an  honored  position  on  the  Stock  Exchange  or  at  the 
Mansion  House. 

"  They  say  and  do  not." 

With  Jesus  listening  to  his  every  syllable,  John 
boldly  denounced  the  governing  and  respected  classes 
of  his  da)'^  as  "  a  generation  of  vipers."  That  the 
epithet  struck  like  a  knife,  we  know  of  a  certainty, 
for  years  later  Jesus  repeated  it  more  than  once,  with 
an  emphasis  all  the  more  terrible  because  it  was  His 
own.  There  is,  I  think,  evidence  that,  before  endors- 
ing John's  words,  Jesus,  by  personal  observation, 
satisfied  Himself  of  their  justice.  In  the  very  stress 
of  the  final  controversies  which  were  a  prelude  to 
the  Cross,  His  mind  was  so  completely  free  from 
animus  that — to  use  our  own  expression — He  "  went 
out  of  His  way  "  to  tell  His  disciples  how  the  scribes 
and  Pharisees,  sitting  in  Moses'  seat,  must  be  obeyed 
for  the  truth  that  is  in  them.  No  one  has  ever  put 
such  strength  into  human  language  as  Jesus,  but,  while 
He  denounced,  He  never  abused;  every  term  that  He 
employed  accurately  fitted  the  case.  His  verdict  was 
simply  that  "  they  say  and  do  not." 

The  peculiar  quality  of  the  viper  is  that,  feeding 
on  good  food,  it  turns  everything  to  poison,  and, 
crawling  on  the  ground,  rises  only  to  strike  a  victim. 
Look,  for  instance,  at  the  Pharisee  and  the  publican, 
both  going  up  into  the  Temple  to  pray.    Each  of  them 


THE  GENERATION  OF  VIPERS  91 

addressed  his  prayer  to  God.  But  the  Pharisee 
claimed  God's  praise,  while  the  publican  begged  for 
God's  mercy.  The  Pharisee  judged  himself  by  the 
lowest  standard — by  comparison  with  the  extortioner, 
the  unjust,  and  the  adulterer;  while  the  publican, 
with  bowed  head,  submitted  himself  to  the  highest. 
The  Pharisee  went  away,  therefore,  unwarned  (as 
John  put  it)  of  the  wrath  to  come,  while  the  publican 
was  "  justified  " — that  is,  was  brought  into  line  with 
righteous  standards.  The  same  act  of  devotion  lulled 
one  man  to  sleep,  and  stirred  the  other  to  repentance. 
The  Pharisee  did  not  realize  that,  in  giving  alms  to  the 
poor,  he  should  have  asked  why  men  are  so  poor  as  to 
require  alms.  He  did  not  know,  apparently,  that 
while  he  fasted  twice  a  week,  others  went  hungry  all 
the  time.  And — viper-like — he  could  not  lift  up  his 
head  without  striking  poison  into  a  fellow-creature. 
"  Even  this  publican,"  said  he  in  his  prayer,  thereby 
insinuating  extortion,  injustice,  and  adultery,  against 
a  man  at  that  moment  engaged  with  him  in  a  common 
act  of  worship.  Was  it  any  wonder  that,  with  crush- 
ing iteration,  the  Lord  Jesus  exclaimed :  "  Ye  serpents, 
ye  generation  of  vipers,  how  can  ye  escape  the  dam- 
nation of  hell  ?  " 

Essential  Distinctions. 

Here  we  see  how  our  Lord  attacked  the  religious, 
to  save  religion.  Twice  He  drove  the  money-changers 
from  the  Temple,  because  it  was  His  Father's  House. 
To  Him,  despite  all  tradition  of  the  elders,  it  is  'he 
Temple  that  sanctifies  the  gold,  not  the  gold  that 
sanctifies  the  Temple;  and,  in  His  eyes,  the  plainest 
conventicle  is  as  hallowed  as  the  most  gorgeous 
cathedral,  because,  where  two  or  three  are  gathered 


9«  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

together,  there  is  He  in  the  midst.  It  is  not  the  gift 
that  hallows  the  altar,  but  the  altar  that  hallows  the 
gift;  and  men,  if  they  need  an  oath,  should  swear 
by  the  widow's  mite,  which  includes  herself,  rather 
than  by  the  rich  man's  thousands,  which  remain  mere 
money.  The  widow's  mite,  the  widow's  house,  the 
widow's  importunity,  the  widow's  son — His  test  for 
society  was  more  frequently  this  than  any  other — 
how  the  widow  is  treated.  To  this  day,  the  widow 
and  her  children  are  the  unsolved  problem  of  poor 
law  and  charity.  He  did  not  attack  the  tithes  of 
mint  and  anise  and  cummin — such  taxation  was,  in 
His  opinion,  not  heavy  enough,  for  it  omitted  weightier 
matters,  like  judgment,  mercy,  and  faith.  He  would 
spend  a  night  in  prayer,  but,  for  this  very  reason, 
pronounced  a  greater  damnation  on  those  who  make 
long  prayers  a  pretense,  while  they  devour  widow^s' 
houses.  He  agreed,  that  a  whited  sepulcher  is  beauti- 
ful, but  He  looked  with  a  discerning  eye  on  cemeteries, 
and,  with  entire  truthfulness,  declared  that,  as  in  our 
hearts,  so  in  the  grandest  mausoleum,  lie  dead  men's 
bones;  that  what  matters  is  not  the  tombstone  and 
its  inscription,  but  the  way  we  behave  to  our  prophets 
and  our  friends  when  they  are  alive.  To  Him,  the 
nameless  mound  in  Flanders  is  as  sacred  as  the  most 
gorgeous  sarcophagus  in  mosque  or  minster,  and  His 
sole  concern  with  the  grave  is  whether  it  can  imprison, 
not  the  body  but  the  soul. 

Keenly  diagnosing  the  Pharisaic  disease,  Jesus  tells 
us  that  the  man  who  exalts  himself  loses  his  sense  of 
proportion.  He  strains  at  a  gnat,  because  a  gnat, 
though  small,  causes  him  annoyance;  he  swallows  a 
camel,  because  a  camel  does  not  happen  to  irritate 
him.    He  binds  heavy  burdens,  grievous  to  be  borne, 


THE  GENERATION  OF  VIPERS  96 

and  lays  them  on  men's  shoulders;  but  he  does  not 
move  these  burdens  with  one  of  his  fingers.  He  com- 
passes sea  and  land  to  make  one  proselyte  (which 
Jesus  never  did),  but  when  he  is  made,  the  proselyte 
is  none  the  happier.  Indeed,  knowing  what  he  has 
lost,  as  well  as  what  he  has  failed  to  gain,  he  is  two- 
fold more  the  child  of  hell  or  of  misery  than  the  self- 
righteous  man  himself.  The  man  is  a  blind  guide 
who,  not  knowing  that  he  is  blind,  and  should  himself 
be  led,  yet  leads  others  beside  himself  into  the  ditch 
of  disillusionment  and  despair. 

One  is  your  Master. 

John  saw  the  wickedness  of  the  scribes  and  Pharisees. 
Like  Moses,  he  pronounced  a  curse  upon  the  men 
who  removed  their  neighbors'  landmark.  Jesus  came 
not  to  curse,  but  to  bless.  What  He  realized  was 
not  men's  wickedness  merely,  but  their  woe.  He 
did  not  say  to  them,  as  John  did,  "  Who  hath  warned 
you?"  as  if  to  repel  the  self-righteous.  He  wept 
over  Jerusalem,  and  would  have  gathered  these  men, 
as  a  hen  gathers  her  chickens,  but  they  would  not. 
John  would  have  it  that  of  these  very  stones — the 
hard  and  heartless  Gentiles — God  was  able  to  raise 
up  children  unto  the  great-souled  patriarch  Abraham. 
Jesus  would  have  saved  the  Jews  themselves;  would 
have  shown  them  that,  though  children  of  Abraham, 
they  were  in  bondage  to  sin;  and  would  have  set 
them  free.  John  baptized,  but  did  no  miracle; 
Jesus  did  not  baptize.  But  when  they  asked  Him  if, 
then.  He  was  greater  than  Abraham,  He  looked  on 
them,  and  for  their  sakes,  since  they  needed  His 
omnipotence.  He  declared :  "  Before  Abraham  was, 
I  am."     But  they  did  not  ask  Him  to  rescue  them. 


94i  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

They  did  not  seek  His  help.  They  took  up  the  stones 
— as  later  they  instigated  the  Gentiles — to  destroy 
Him. 

But  we — we  may  still  hear  Him  saying,  Do  not 
exalt  yourselves.  Be  not  called  Rabbi.  Think  less 
of  the  earthly  than  of  the  heavenly  Fatherhood. 
Because  One  alone  is  your  Master,  all  ye  are  brethren. 
Be  it  noted,  all.  Not  one  exception  made  for 
emperor,  pope,  general,  scientist,  millionaire,  artist, 
politician,  or  wage-earner.  In  this  holy  family  there 
is  one  place  for  each,  but  no  second  place  for  pride  or 
prejudice,  for  grievance  or  malice.  On  His  forehead 
Jesus  wore  no  phylactery,  because  the  law  of  the 
family  was  hid  in  His  heart.  To  His  garments  there 
was  no  enlarged  border,  because  His  entire  robe, 
woven  throughout  and  seamless,  clothed  Him  like 
righteousness — type  of  His  character  which  was  self- 
consistent  and  in  perfect  proportion.  By  His 
humility  He  left  it  to  His  Father  to  exalt  Him,  and, 
having  abased  Himself,  He  now  rises  amongst  us,  in 
Divine  and  unutterable  majesty. 


XIII 
CHRIST  AND  FINANCE 

Christ's  Mode  of  Living — Co-workers  with  God — Dives  and 
Lazarus. 

AS  the  people  listened  to  John,  they  began  to 
realize  that  baptism  and  repentance  are  not 
the  end  of  the  good  life,  but  only  the  beginning;  and 
they  asked  the  question  which  every  reformer  has  to 
answer,  namely:  What  shall  we  do?  John  answered 
that  if  any  of  them  had  two  coats,  he  should  give 
one  away,  and  that,  similarly,  he  should  share  with 
others  his  food.  In  one  sentence,  John  summed  up 
what  we  call  Socialism,  as  if,  living  at  a  distance, 
he  could  see  this  planet  as  a  whole — a  common  herit- 
age, granted  by  the  Creator  to  our  race,  so  that,  in 
forest  and  field  and  mine  and  factory,  there  is  enough, 
but  no  more  than  enough,  to  supply  the  needs  of  man's 
ever-more-abundant  life.  Whence  it  follows  that  a 
superfluity  in  some  homes  means  that  in  others  the 
people  are  less  well  fed  than  they  ought  to  be,  and 
less  well  clothed  and  taught  and  washed  and  healed 
when  they  are  ill,  because  the  balance  is  disturbed — 
the  world  is  out  of  joint. 

If,  as  a  nation,  we  had  followed  John's  teaching, 
and    spent    on    missions    what    we    now    have    to 

95 


96  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

spend  on  war,  who  knows  what  guarantees  of  peace 
and  justice  we  might  not  have  established  in  the 
world?  One  way  or  the  other,  we  have  to  learn 
the  lesson,  that  our  incomes  are  not  our  own. 
Csesar  will  have  our  money  or  God  will  have  it,  but 
in  Christ's  accountancy  there  is  no  third  column  for 
Self. 

On  no  occasion  do  we  find  that  He  carried  with 
Him  one  farthing.  At  Samaria,  it  was  the  disciples 
who  went  into  the  village  to  buy  meat.  When  they 
asked  Him  about  giving  tribute  to  Caesar,  they  had 
to  bring  Him  the  penny,  for  He  was  penniless.  His 
only  purse  was  the  mouth  of  a  fish  that  Peter  caught. 
And  when  they  parted  His  garments  among  them, 
they  did  not  discover  any  coin  or  notes.  John  had 
preached  Socialism,  but  of  all  who  heard  him,  Jesus 
alone  lived  the  creed. 

Christ's  Mode  of  Living. 

Our  Lord  desired  that  others  should  live  as  He  did. 
He  told  His  twelve  apostles,  and  afterwards  His 
seventy  evangelists,  that  they  need  not  provide 
money  in  their  purses  by  which  to  pay  for  things; 
or  wallet  in  which  to  collect  things;  or  two  coats, 
which  weigh  on  the  shoulders;  or  shoes,  which  drag 
on  the  feet;  or  staves — since  he  who  is  without 
property  need  fear  no  highwayman.  To  Jesus,  the 
weight  of  a  man's  kit,  like  aimless  gossip  on  the 
wayside,  interfered  with  efficiency.  He  would  have 
us  give  an  account  even  of  idle  words,  and  avoid  vain 
repetitions  in  our  very  prayers;  and  similarly,  if  we 
are  to  visit  the  cities  of  Israel  before  His  return,  and 
prepare  them  for  Him — which,  even  after  two  thou- 
sand years  of  Christian  effort,  will  require  some  town- 


CHRIST  AND  FINANCE  97 

planning — we  must  let  Him  rid  us  of  useless  labor 
and  heavy  lading.  Our  yoke  must  be  easy;  our 
burden  must  be  light;  our  souls  must  be  at  rest. 
No  Apostle  covered  so  much  ground  as  Paul,  yet  so 
modest  was  his  equipment  'that  when  he  reached 
Rome  he  had  to  ask  Timothy  to  bring  him  a  cloak 
all  the  way  from  Troas,  because  he  needed  it,  while 
the  parchments  of  this  greatest  theologian  could  be 
carried  in  a  knapsack.  He  had  no  library,  no  jointures 
(except  with  the  Saviour),  no  title-deeds  (except  to 
eternal  life),  no  endowments  (save  the  unsearchable 
riches).     His  only  paraphernalia  was  content. 

John's  message,  though  very  simple,  thus  had 
great  results.  We  do  not  know  whether  all  the 
Apostles  gave  up  their  private  fortunes — each  was 
responsible  to  the  Master;  but  Peter  and  Andrew 
and  the  Boanerges  left  their  fishing,  while  Matthew 
resigned  his  appointment  in  the  Civil  Service.  The 
money  on  which  these  friends  lived  was  handed  to 
Judas  Iscariot,  who  carried  it  for  them  in  his  bag; 
and  so  taught  us  that,  if  we  would  associate  with  Jesus 
in  His  work,  we  must  regard  ourselves,  not  as  the 
owners  but  as  the  trustees  of  what  we  are  held  to 
possess. 

In  the  Early  Church  they  also  sold  their  possessions, 
and  by  establishing  a  common  fund,  applied  their 
property  to  human  need,  and  so  put  it  to  the  fullest 
use.  The  rich  congregation  helped  the  poor,  and  Paul 
made  a  special  journey  to  Jerusalem  in  order  to  convey 
thither  the  gifts  of  the  wealthier  communities.  Thus 
was  laid  the  foundation  of  modern  insurance,  which  is 
a  pool  in  property  to  meet  special  risks,  and  an  ex- 
pression in  finance  of  God's  care  for  the  individual. 
In  the  Roman  Empire  there  was  no  system  like  this; 


98  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

it  is  essentially  Christian,  and  based  on  the  theory  that 
if  we  pay,  as  premium,  what,  like  the  coat,  we  do  not 
at  the  moment  need,  we  shall,  in  the  future,  never  be 
reduced  to  rags. 

Co-workers  with  God. 

Again  and  again  Jesus  devoted  Himself  to  teaching 
us  what  is  meant  by  money.  He  condemned  as  un- 
profitable the  servant  w-ho  laid  up  his  loan  in  a  napkin, 
and  denied  the  owner's  right  to  increment.  The 
man's  prudence,  like  his  napkin,  was  meant  for  use,  not 
waste.  But  He  held  that  all  profit  belongs  absolutely 
to  the  one  Capitalist,  and  in  due  course  must  be  handed 
back  to  Him.  Not  that  He  takes  it  out  of  the  business, 
for  none  of  God's  material  gifts  leaves  this  world;  on 
the  contrary.  He  would  reinvest  the  product  of  human 
effort  for  the  benefit  of  the  whole  human  race.  As, 
in  our  work,  we  are  trustees  for  Him;  so,  in  our 
wealth,  does  He  become,  as  it  were.  Trustee  for  us. 
Father  and  children  are  co-workers  together. 

Jesus  fully  understood  the  problems  of  Labor.  He 
knew  that  while  some  men  only  work  for  one  hour  a 
day,  others  toil  through  the  burden  and  heat;  but 
He  still  lays  it  down  that  wages  should  be  adjusted, 
not  to  the  services  rendered,  since  these  are  a  duty  to 
/God  rather  than  the  employer,  but  to  the  needs  of 
the  worker.  Each  man  receives  the  same  penny,  and 
rightly,  because  each  has  the  same  body  to  support, 
and  the  same  family  to  feed.  In  the  Old  Testament, 
what  they  tried  to  establish  was  a  standard  rate  of 
property :  every  man  his  vine,  and  every  man  his 
fig-tree.  It  broke  down,  because  so  many  men,  having 
called  the  vine  and  the  fig-tree  their  own,  wanted 
two  vines  and   two   fig-trees.     Jesus   took  over  our 


CHRIST  AND  FINANCE  99 

property,  and  substituted  what  trade-unions  call  a 
standard  rate  of  pay  which  was  to  be  sufficient  for 
the  day,  but  without  margin  for  accumulation.  Since 
the  penny  a  day  met  every  need,  nothing  was  added  for 
overtime,  even  when  it  was  undoubtedly  prolonged. 
Not  that  He  ignored  even  that  matter.  The  reason 
why  some  men  had  to  work  all  day  and  all  night  was 
that  other  men  stood  idle  in  the  market-place,  and 
Jesus  accepts  their  plea  that  they  were  idle  because  no 
one  had  hired  them.  Overtime  and  unemployment 
were  thus,  mutually,  cause  and  effect;  and  by  giving 
to  each  man  a  penny  whether  he  worked  long  or  little, 
our  Lord  invoked  a  public  opinion  which  called  upon 
each  man — in  our  War  phrase — "  to  do  his  bit." 
The  idle  man,  whether  he  be  among  the  unemployed 
or  the  paupers,  is,  in  fact,  a  charge  upon  the  State; 
and  the  unemployed  should  be  offered,  not  charity, 
or  sympathy,  or  criticism,  but  an  opportunity  of  toil. 
It  was  Jesus  who  thus  first  advised  a  labor  exchange. 
To  many  people,  thrift  is  a  virtue  because  it  implies 
self-control  in  the  present  and  foresight  for  the  future. 
But  if  Jesus  had  substituted  a  bank  balance  for  a 
Father's  care,  His  teaching  would  have  excluded  nine 
out  of  ten  wage-earners.  He  was  against  laying  up 
treasures  on  earth,  because  He  realized  that  all  prop- 
erty is  liable,  first,  to  moth  and  rust,  by  which  are 
meant  the  depreciation  that  results  inevitably  from 
postponed  use;  and,  second,  to  theft,  with  violence,  like 
war.  We  read,  too,  of  the  farmer  whose  barns  were 
full,  but  who  did  not  sow  his  surplus  corn  or  sell  it  for 
bread,  so  as  to  relieve  the  market,  but  pulled  down  his 
barns,  which  was  waste  of  property,  in  order  to  build 
greater,  which  was  waste  of  work;  yet  overlooked 
his  own  health.    This  financier  was  a  fool,  because  he 


100  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

only  thought  of  his  assets;  forgetting  his  liabilities, 
which  included  a  mortgage  on  his  soul,  due  to  a  sleep- 
less Creditor,  who  foreclosed  that  very  night  after 
business  hours.  Wealth  unspent  made  the  rich  man  a 
miser. 

Dives  and  Lazarus. 

Dives,  on  the  other  hand,  though  rich,  was  not 
such  a  miser.  He  fared  sumptuously  every  day,  and 
was  clad  in  purple  and  fine  linen,  so  enjoying  his 
money.  And  Lazarus  did  not  ask  to  share  these  pleas- 
ures; with  the  ever-amazing  patience  of  the  very  poor, 
he  would  have  been  content  with  the  mere  crumbs 
which  were  thrown  away,  then  as  now,  in  lavish  house- 
holds. Dives  did  not  drive  Lazarus  from  his  door;  he 
simply  ignored  the  man,  and  the  very  dogs — what  the 
French  aristocrats  called  the  canaille — were  kinder  to 
him,  licking  his  sores,  which  attentions  may  have  been 
imperfect  as  Red  Cross  work,  but  implied  an  inti- 
mate personal  sympathy.  Surfeit  and  starvation  both 
ended  fatally,  and  we  are  told,  as  a  fact  of  importance, 
that  Dives  was  buried.  There  was  quite  a  funeral. 
But  what  Lazarus  thought  of  was  the  sequel  to  his 
unmentioned  grave.  In  his  poverty  he  had  learnt 
the  lessons  of  Abraham,  who  wandered  forth  alone 
to  be  the  friend  of  God,  and  into  Abraham's  bosom 
he  went. 

Dives  went  to  hell,  and  it  was  the  hell  of  his  own 
making.  He  was  tormented  by  the  flame  of  remorse. 
His  only  thought  was  Lazarus,  still  as  far  from  him  in 
death  as  he  had  been  in  life.  He  envied  the  very  dogs, 
and  begged  for  one  drop  of  water  to  moisten  his  own 
tongue.  Yet  he  knew  that  his  offense  was  against  a 
Greater  than  Lazarus,  and  it  was  to  father  Abraham 


CHRIST  AND  FINANCE  101 

that  he  appealed.  He  had  his  answer.  This  earthly 
drama,  he  discovered,  is  but  a  part  of  the  whole. 
There  is  not  one  wrong  that  shall  fail  of  being  righted. 
The  beggar  who  sustains  evil  without  complaint  is 
richer  than  the  millionaire  who  receives  good  without 
gratitude.  And  if  we  make  a  distance  between  our- 
selves and  others,  that  becomes  fixed  as  a  gulf;  nor 
can  even  Lazarus,  the  man  we  have  wronged,  bridge 
the  chasm.  He  cannot  forgive  us.  He  is  not  our 
judge.     Nor  can  he  warn  us. 

For  thousands  of  years  men  have  seen  these  social 
inequalities,  but  they  are  not  stirred  thereby.  If  they 
will  not  believe  Moses  and  the  Prophets,  if  Lazarus 
in  rags  does  not  convince  them,  neither  will  Lazarus 
emerging — as  a  Lazarus  did  emerge — in  his  grave- 
clothes  from  the  tomb. 


XIV 
GREATER  THAN  THE  GREATEST 

John  the  Baptist  and   Christ— Resurrection,  not  Transmigra- 
tion— Modern  AppHcation  of  John's  Teaching. 

AS  he  appeared  to  the  EvangeHsts,  John  the 
-  Baptist  was,  next  to  our  Lord,  the  most  illus- 
trious personage  of  his  time.  And  the  Evangelists 
were  right,  for  beneath  this  towering  figure  the  great 
ones  of  the  Roman  Empire  sink  into  glittering  medioc- 
rity. On  John  alone  did  our  Lord  pronounce  a 
panegyric,  and  this,  even  in  cold  print,  stirs  us  with 
an  irresistible  crescendo.  What  was  John?  A  reed, 
shaken  by  the  wind  of  opinion?  A  man,  clothed  in 
soft  raiment?  Such  men  are  seen,  not  in  king's 
dungeons,  where  the  Baptist  was  to  die,  but  in  king's 
palaces,  where  his  murderers  reigned.  A  prophet — 
with  vision?  Nay,  more  than  a  prophet,  since  he 
saw  his  vision  come  true.  For  among  men  born  of 
women  was  none  greater  than  he. 

A  reed,  a  man,  a  prophet,  more  than  a  prophet, 
none  greater — what  a  ladder  of  praise!  Yet,  standing 
even  on  its  topmost  rung,  John  had  to  reach  far 
upwards  if  he  was  to  unloose  the  shoe-latchet  of 
his  Master.  "Stoop  down"  to  do  that!  Why,  of 
that  very  stooping  he  was  unworthy,  since  it  would 

102 


GREATER  THAN  THE  GREATEST   103 

imply  a  previous  equality.  John  knew  that  he  must 
raise  his  arms  high  above  his  head  and  all  its  thoughts 
if  he  was  to  grasp  Christ's  feet,  scarred  as  they  were 
with  service,  and  torn,  as  they  would  be,  with  suffer- 
ing. John  was  humble,  courageous,  honest,  self-less, 
but  the  pathos  of  his  career  lies  in  this — that  he  was 
eager,  not  happy,  in  his  mission.  He  did  not  enter 
the  Kingdom  of  Heaven,  and  the  least  in  that  Kingdom 
is  therefore  greater  than  he.  Saul,  breathing  out 
threatenings  and  slaughter,  was,  as  a  man,  despicable 
beside  the  Baptist  preaching  a  change  of  heart.  But 
John  in  prison,  undaunted  yet  discouraged,  does  not 
compare  with  what  Paul  became,  the  calm  and  con- 
tented captive  of  the  Lord,  ready  to  live  or  die,  in 
poverty  or  in  abundance,  because  Here  and  Hereafter 
were  to  him,  in  one  word,  Christ. 

John  the  Baptist  and  Christ. 

The  waiting  multitudes  seemed  to  know  that,  by 
some  mysterious  destiny,  they  were  part  of  a  crisis 
in  the  affairs  of  man.  Though  Jesus  was  still  hidden, 
they  expected  a  Messiah;  though  He  had  not  died, 
they  talked  of  resurrection.  From  Jerusalem  a  dep- 
utation of  priests  and  Levites — John's  tribe — for- 
getting Bethlehem  and  their  Bible,  put  to  the  Baptist 
the  blunt  question  whether  he  was  the  Christ — and 
would  have  taken  his  "yes"  for  an  answer!  He 
knew  how  sorely  the  world  needed  a  Saviour,  but  he 
had  to  declare  that  the  Saviour  must  be  Someone  else. 
No  one  realized  more  clearly  than  John  that  the 
Unitarian  Christ — however  gracious,  however  strong 
— was  impossible. 

This  greatest  of  men,  surveying  the  task  before  him, 
instinctively  deduced  the  Divinity  of  the  now  imminent 


104.  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

Redeemer.  When  they  suggested  that  he  was  bap- 
tizing without  authority,  he  turned  and  rent  his  own 
rite.  What  was  water,  that  flows  off  a  man  and 
leaves  him  as  before?  The  real  Christ  would  baptize 
with  fire — fire  blown  on  man  with  the  Breath  of  God, 
to  consume  and  to  purify — leaving  the  wheat  only  on 
the  threshing  floor,  because  the  chaff,  drawn  off  by  that 
same  Spirit,  is  utterly  destroyed.  The  "  burning  and 
shining  light " — as  Jesus  called  John — thus  began  by 
thinking  of  the  Christ  as  like  unto  himself,  a  second 
Baptist,  but  Greater;  and  it  was  only  when  he  held 
Jesus  in  his  arms  and  baptized  Him,  that  his  view 
changed;  and,  remembering  the  altar  that  his  father, 
Zacharias,  knew  so  well,  he  spoke  of  the  Lamb  of  God. 
The  truth  broke  on  him  that  the  Christ  would  be  not 
the  Consumer  merely,  but  Himself  the  Consumed — 
who  is  not  content  to  denounce  the  sin  of  the  world, 
but  does  more — takes  it  away. 

For  there  was  this  difference  between  the  audience 
which  gathered  around  John  and  the  crowds  that 
thronged  Jesus.  John  spoke  to  the  scribes  and 
Pharisees,  the  tax-gatherers  and  soldiers,  the  govern- 
ing classes,  who  had  two  coats  and  well-filled  purses, 
and  were  "  worth  winning."  The  evils  that  he  dealt 
with  were  pride  and  selfishness — the  sins  of  success. 
Jesus  drew  to  Him  the  failures — the  blind,  and  they  re- 
ceived their  sight;  the  lame,  and  they  walked;  the 
lepers,  and  they  were  cleansed;  the  deaf,  the  dumb,  the 
dead.  And  when  John,  grown  doubtful  in  his  jail,  sent 
two  messengers  to  inquire  if  He  were  indeed  the  Ex- 
pected One,  He  answered,  as  final  evidence,  that  the 
poor  had  the  good  tidings  preached  to  them.  To  ad- 
vise, denounce,  condemn,  as  John  did,  was  good;  but 
to  heal,  uplift,  and  forgive  is  better.    And  while  John 


GREATER  THAN  THE  GREATEST   105 

died  as  witness  against  the  sins  of  a  monarch,  Jesus 
died  as  sacrifice  for  the  sins  of  a  thief.  The  one  was 
Justice,  the  Other  was  also  Love;  and  where  Justice 
left  the  culprit  to  his  fate,  Love  carried  the  criminal 
into  paradise. 

If  John  was  not  the  Christ,  then,  thought  the  people, 
he  must  be  Elijah  or  some  other  prophet,  risen  from 
the  dead — anyone  but  himself.  Jesus,  in  His  turn,  was 
said  to  be  Isaiah,  the  man  of  hope,  or  Jeremiah,  the 
man  of  tears.  When  the  Baptist's  very  flesh  had  been 
severed  in  twain  by  the  sword  of  the  executioner,  and 
his  body  buried  by  his  disciples,  Herod  trembled  lest 
in  Jesus  his  victim  should  be  again  stalking  abroad;  and 
the  people  who  had  heard  John  gladly,  rejoicing  in 
his  light,  now  shared  the  superstitions  of  their  king. 

Resurrection,  not  Transmigration. 

Nor  is  there  any  evidence  more  artlessly  convincing 
than  this — that  popular  sentiment,  in  identifying 
our  Saviour  with  His  forerunner,  instinctively  attrib- 
uted a  resurrection  to  them  both.  These  errors 
faded  away  noiselessly  with  the  dawn.  Men  and 
women  were  right  in  rejecting  the  Sadducee  negation 
of  any  life,  actual  and  demonstrable,  beyond  the 
grave.  The  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob  is, 
not  as  the  Sadducees  imagined,  the  God  of  the  dead, 
but  of  the  living.  So  far,  the  people  were  not  deceived. 
But,  on  the  other  hand,  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob 
each  remains  himself  and  no  other.  There  has  been 
no  transmigration  of  their  souls.  The  inexhaustible 
God  has  no  need  to  reissue  old  coinage  from  His  mint. 
When  Herod  on  his  judgment-seat  first  set  eyes  on 
Christ,  he  knew  that  here  was  no  ghost  of  John  the 
Baptist.     And  when  Moses  and  Elijah  stood  on  the 


106  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

mountain  with  Him,  it  was  in  their  own  persons,  not 
as  anyone  else.  The  widow's  son  at  Nain,  when 
awakened  from  his  bier,  was  still  her  son.  When  her 
funeral  was  interrupted,  the  little  girl  came  back  to 
Jairus,  her  father,  as  his  daughter.  Lazarus,  when 
they  unbound  his  grave-clothes,  was  still  the  brother 
of  Martha  and  Mary,  and  shared  their  meals;  while 
Dorcas,  when  revived,  continued  her  sewing-parties. 
These  people  did  not  become  younger  when  they  were 
called  back,  nor  did  they  enjoy  over  again  any  of  their 
past  opportunities.  They  only  resumed  their  former 
existence,  with  their  former  powers,  and  not  for  one 
moment  did  they  and  their  souls  part  company.  Not 
one  of  them  is  heard  of  afterwards;  all  of  them 
ultimately  died  a  natural  death.  And  they  are  ap- 
pointed to  teach  us,  first,  that  God  is  absolute  Master 
of  our  days — to  give  or  withhold  as  He  wills;  secondly, 
that  a  bodily  resurrection,  as  Hezekiah  discovered 
when  his  health  was  restored,  adds  nothing  to  our 
happiness,  usefulness,  or  insight  into  truth;  and 
thirdly,  that  the  solemnity  of  this  present  lies  precisely 
in  this — that  we  cannot,  by  any  miracle,  recover  one 
instant  of  it.  In  the  broad  daylight  of  such  truth, 
we  should  test  every  fresh  emergence  of  necromancy, 
spiritualism,  or  ghost-lore;  on  psychic  phenomena  the 
Lord  Jesus  said  the  first  and  last  word. 

With  failure  already  overshadowing  his  success,  and 
no  Messiah  as  yet  revealed  to  him,  John  still  went 
on  daily  with  his  work,  patiently  deciding  the  difficult 
issues  which  were  submitted  to  him.  He  was  a  peo- 
ple's magistrate,  stern  yet  trusted,  whose  brief,  clear 
verdicts  always  dealt,  not  with  the  past,  which  John 
knew  not  how  to  pardon,  but  with  the  future,  in  which 
he  still  dared  to  hope.     Of  his  followers,  they  whose 


GREATER  THAN  THE  GREATEST   107 

conscience  gave  most  trouble  were  the  inland  revenue 
officers  who  collected  the  taxes,  and  the  soldiers  who 
enforced  the  laws.  There,  at  the  base  of  the  Roman 
Empire,  lay  corruption  and  cruelty;  and  since  violence 
against  some  other  person  can  be  more  easily  condoned 
than  an  offense  on  property  that  is  one's  own,  the 
dread  of  the  soldier  was  as  nothing  compared  with  the 
detestation  of  the  publican.  John  did  not  require, 
either  of  the  publican  or  of  the  soldier,  that  he  should 
give  up  his  calling;  but  he  laid  down  rules  by  which 
such  callings  should  be  tested.  What  the  publicans 
had  to  do  was  to  levy  correct  taxes,  no  more  and  no 
less;  while  to  the  soldiers  John  did  not  say,  Lay  down 
your  arms.  He  recognized  that  in  the  solar  system 
force  is  an  instrument  of  God,  which  means  that  an 
especial  responsibility  rests  on  those  who  invoke  or 
apply  it.  There  must  be  no  violence  to  the  individual, 
no  false  accusations,  no  plunder  as  an  addition  to 
rations.  War  is  to  be  waged  as  a  strict  and  judicial 
assertion  of  equity,  without  passion,  profit,  aggression, 
or  diplomatic  subterfuge.  Civilian  life  must  be  re- 
spected. Mutiny  must  be  repressed.  But  the  idea 
that,  because  war  is  terrible,  therefore  a  soldier  is  a 
worse  man  than  an  unarmed  Pharisee — to  take  one 
instance — receives  no  warrant  in  the  Gospels.  The 
Pharisee  is  often  denounced,  the  soldier  never — so 
completely  did  our  Lord  and  His  forerunner  judge  of 
the  outward  act  by  its  inward  motive. 

The  strange  thing  is  that  such  teaching  should  have 
been  heard  so  gladly,  not  only  by  the  multitude  who 
steadily  reverenced  John's  memory,  but  by  the  classes 
specially  rebuked.  To  the  publicans,  the  vista  of 
honesty  opened  up  an  avenue  that  led  back  to  self- 
respect,  and  many  of  them  were  baptized.     We  read, 


108  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

too,  of  more  than  one  righteous  centurion  who  ap- 
pHed  John's  precepts  to  his  relations  with  the  subject 
Jews. 

Modern  Application  of  John's  Teaching. 

To  this  day,  the  careers  of  men  like  General  Gordon 
and  Lord  Kitchener  illustrate  what  may  be  achieved 
in  Asiatic  lands  by  John's  code  of  financial  correcti- 
tude,  backed  by  strict  military  discipline.  All  that  is 
great  in  British  control  of  India  and  Egypt  and 
Uganda  resolves  itself,  politically,  to  the  wisdom  of 
John  the  Baptist.  In  every  land,  he  who  was  the  fore- 
runner of  our  Lord  stands  forth  as  a  champion  of  pub- 
lic right  against  all  such  hideous  allurements  as  those 
of  Tammany  Hall.  For  States  and  Municipalities,  for 
democracies  and  despotisms,  this  last  appeal  of  Moses 
and  the  Prophets  is  a  true  word  of  exhortation.  Yet, 
in  the  deeper  sense,  it  failed.  Those  publicans  alone 
entered  the  Kingdom  who,  like  Matthew  and  Zacchaeus 
and  the  crowds  that  heard  the  parables,  came  from 
John  to  Jesus.  They  did  not  become  honest  about 
money  until  they  learnt  to  value  their  souls  above  the 
hundredth  sheep,  above  the  tenth  piece  of  silver,  and 
above  the  half  of  the  Father's  material  substance.  To 
Matthew,  the  receipt  of  custom  was  not  worth  one  day 
with  Christ. 

And  the  soldiers — what  of  them?  Three  years 
later,  they  surrounded  the  Redeemer,  mocked  Him, 
scourged  Him,  platted  a  crown  of  thorns  and  put  it 
on  His  head,  and  in  the  very  presence  of  His  mother 
seized  His  garments  as  their  booty.  There  was 
violence,  false  accusation,  plunder;  and  even  when 
He  was  dead,  they  plunged  a  spear  into  His  side. 
Every  law  laid  down  by  John  was  set  aside. 


GREATER  THAN  THE  GREATEST   109 

Yet  His  love  has  captured  even  the  soldiers.  The 
centurion  whose  orderly  was  sick  was  the  first  man 
to  understand  Christ's  power  over  disease,  and  his 
view  of  command  and  obedience  settles  for  ever  the 
controversy  over  miracles.  God  has  this  authority — 
and  that  is  enough.  The  other  centurion  at  the  Cross 
settled  for  ever  the  question  of  Christ's  Divinity.  He 
looked  on  this  Man,  now  dead — saw  through  the  in- 
finite shame  of  His  crucifixion;  was  not  deceived  by 
the  hideousness  of  the  scene,  but  clearly  distinguished 
between  the  thieves  whose  bones  were  broken  and 
their  Companion,  who  died  of  a  broken  heart.  "  Truly, 
this  was  the  Son  of  God";  and  from  that  testimony 
the  buccaneer,  the  freebooter,  the  mercenary,  the 
raider,  has  risen,  transfigured,  into  the  Soldier  of  the 
Cross,  the  Knightly  Warrior,  who  fights,  not  to  con- 
quer but  to  defend,  and  is  happier  when  he  dies  than 
when  he  kills. 


XV 

THE  BAPTISM  OF  THE  REDEEMER 

The  Sinless  Saviour — The  Dove  and  the  Lamb — The  Insight  of 
Christ. 

CROWDED  with  events  as  was  our  Lord's  brief 
life,  He  was  never  hurried;  not  one  hasty  or  ill- 
considered  remark  fell  from  His  lips;  nor  do  we  once 
read  that  He  ran,  as  if  late  for  His  duty.  When  His 
"  time  "  or  "  hour  "  came — to  quote  one  of  His  favor- 
ite expressions — He  was  always  in  His  place,  and  His 
every  decision  was  right,  not  only  in  itself,  but  as  an 
example  of  providential  punctuality.  The  daughter 
of  Jairus  was  at  the  point  of  death,  but  Jesus  could 
still  spare  a  word  and  His  own  energy,  for  healing  the 
woman  who  touched  the  hem  of  His  garment.  And 
He  devoted  two  whole  days  to  the  issues  involved 
in  bringing  back  Lazarus,  His  intimate  friend,  from 
that  life  beyond,  where  Lazarus  would  be  free  of 
pain  and  sorrow.  Others  hastened  to  Him — fell  at 
His  feet — beseeching  Him — impatiently  drove  the  chil- 
dren from  Him — talked  excitedly  about  Him,  as  did 
the  leper — woke  Him  suddenly,  when  the  boat  was 
sinking — and  were  constantly  betrayed  into  thought- 
less blunders.    But  even  on  those  days,  when  He  had 

110 


THE  BAPTISM  OF  THE  REDEEMER     111 

no  leisure,  not  so  much  as  to  eat,  He  was  ever  active, 
yet  ever  calm. 

Standing  unknown  among  John's  disciples,  for  many 
weeks  He  could  ponder  the  evidences  of  that  great 
man's  success  and  failure.  The  decision  that  He  then 
took  was  as  momentous  as  it  was  unexpected.  Silently, 
He  came  forward,  and  offered  Himself,  not  as  John's 
Master,  to  teach,  but  as  John's  Disciple,  for  baptism. 
John  did  not  then  realize  what  was  meant  by  Jesus  as 
Messiah.  But  of  Jesus,  his  Kinsman,  the  Son  of  Man 
and  Elder  Brother  of  the  family  at  Nazareth,  he  knew 
enough  to  be  astounded  at  the  situation  thus  disclosed. 

The  Sinless  Saviour. 

For  us,  the  question  is  how  sinful  men  may  enter 
the  Kingdom  of  Heaven,  At  His  baptism,  our  Lord 
demonstrated  how  a  Sinless  Man  was  to  live  within 
the  Empire  of  Rome.  Evil  is  so  engrained  in  our 
race  that  we  must  allow  for  it  in  all  our  institutions, 
so  that  we  cannot  have  justice  without  prisons,  homes 
without  bolts  and  bars,  or  prayer  without  confession. 
Jesus  could  not  attend  a  synagogue  without  hearing 
a  penitential  psalm;  and  at  His  birth  His  most  blessed 
Body  was,  as  a  matter  of  course,  subjected  to  a  rite 
which  Paul  did  not  impose  on  the  humblest  Gentile. 
On  His  behalf,  as  well  as  her  own,  Mary,  as  mother, 
made  in  the  Temple  the  prescribed  offering  for  sin. 
In  reality,  she  was  inaugurating  a  drama  at  which,  we 
are  told,  the  angels  themselves  gaze  in  amazement. 
What  Jesus  sacrificed  for  us  was  not  birth  alone,  or 
property,  or  home,  but  what  a  good  man  values  most 
of  all,  His  reputation.  In  Paul's  historic  phrase,  He 
who  knew  no  sin,  was  made  sin  for  us. 

No  wonder  that  He  became  a  Man  of  sorrows  and 


112  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

acquainted  with  grief.  Constantly,  they  accused  Him 
of  keeping  evil  company.  Constantly,  they  charged 
Him  with  blasphemy.  They  told  Him  that  He  was 
a  glutton  and  a  wine-bibber.  They  held  that  He 
broke  the  Sabbath.  They  declared  that  He  had  a 
very  devil  within  Him.  They  suggested  that  He  was 
insane.  And  many  of  those  who,  like  His  brethren, 
were  attached  to  Him  by  special  ties,  were  inclined  to 
believe  a  part,  at  any  rate,  of  the  slanders.  All  this 
suffering  He  could  have  avoided  if,  like  the  priest  and 
the  Levite,  He  had  left  mankind,  wounded  by  the 
way,  and  passed  by  on  the  other  side.  Instead  of 
this.  He  became  "  at  one  "  with  us,  accompanied  us 
to  our  Jericho,  left  His  Jerusalem  behind,  and  paid 
our  bill  at  the  inn.  This  was,  in  faint  parable,  what 
theologians  call  His  Atonement.  And  of  that  Atone- 
ment His  baptism  was  preliminary. 

The  first  man  who  felt  a  difficulty  about  the  Atone- 
men  was  not  the  modern  freethinker,  but  John  the 
Baptist,  who  thought  as  freely  as  any  freethinker,  and 
could  not  understand  why  Jesus  should  be  baptized. 
The  second  man  was  Peter,  who  bluntly  rebuked  the 
Saviour  when  He  talked  about  going  up  to  die  at 
Jerusalem.  And  the  third  man  was  Paul,  who  would 
say  nothing  on  the  subject  until  he  had  spent  three 
years  in  the  deserts  of  Arabia,  meditating  over  it. 
None  of  these  men,  each  of  whom  has  left  his  mark  on 
history,  dismissed  the  Atonement  lightly,  or  received 
it  superstitiously.  Slowly  but  surely,  they  recognized 
Incarnate  Love,  and  worshiped. 

By  refusing  baptism,  Jesus  could,  as  it  were,  have 
asserted  His  sinlessness.  He  was  the  one  Man  who 
had  a  right,  without  boasting,  to  use  the  Pharisee's 
words,  and  to  thank  God  that  He  was  not  as  other 


THE  BAPTISM  OF  THE  REDEEMER     113 

men  are.  And  John  would  have  upheld  Him. 
Though  He  had  not  yet  uttered  one  syllable  of  all  His 
wonderful  teaching  or  performed  one  miracle,  it  was 
not  the  Divine  Disciple  who  confessed  His  "  need  " 
when  He  applied  for  baptism,  but  the  Baptist  himself. 
At  that  moment  our  Lord  could  have  taken  John's 
place,  and  eclipsed  all  his  glory;  but  He  humbled  Him- 
self, and  became  obedient,  not  indeed  to  immediate 
death,  yet  to  the  river  Jordan,  which,  symbolically, 
meant  the  same.  Because  He  had  done  no  wrong, 
therefore,  unlike  the  multitudes,  He  had  nothing  to 
confess;  but  His  very  innocence  expressed  itself  in 
His  readiness  to  submit  all  that  He  had  been  and 
done  to  the  judgment  of  His  Father,  and  to  be  satisfied 
with  no  acquittal,  save  by  the  Highest.  Among  men. 
He  had,  as  we  have  seen,  grown  in  favor.  John 
already  worshiped  Him.  But  He  took  not  one  step 
forward  until  He  heard  with  His  own  ears  that  God 
was  Himself  well  pleased — that  He  had  fulfilled  His 
trust,  not  only  as  Son  of  Mary,  but  as  the  Beloved 
Son  of  a  Heavenly  Father,  To  be  righteous  is  not 
enough.  He  must  fulfill  righteousness,  absorb  it  into 
Himself,  so  that  henceforth  we  may  love  what  is  right, 
which  means  what  is  humble  and  good  and  obedient, 
by  loving  Him,  in  whom  these  things  lived. 

The  Dove  and  the  Lamb. 

Then  it  was  that  John's  view  of  Jesus  changed.  He 
saw  the  Spirit  descending  on  our  Lord,  not,  as  he  had 
imagined,  in  flames,  which  happened  to  the  Apostles  at 
Pentecost,  but  in  bodily  form  as  a  Dove,  which,  to  his 
priestly  mind,  meant  the  bird  of  sacrifice,  devoted  to 
death,  for  iniquities  not  her  own.  To  John,  the  symbol 
was  as  legible  as,  let  us  say,  the  Royal  Standard  flutter- 


114.  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

ing  over  Windsor  Castle  would  be  to  us.  We  should 
say  at  once  that  the  King  was  in  residence;  and  John, 
seeing  the  Dove,  declared  that  here  was  One  who 
should  be  led  like  a  lamb — the  Lamb  of  God — to  the 
slaughter,  bearing  away  the  sins  of  the  world.  In  one 
tremendous  phrase,  John  summed  up  the  vision  of 
Isaiah  and  the  terrible  ritual  of  the  scapegoat,  drawn 
forth  by  man,  loaded  with  man's  guilt,  to  die  alone, 
beyond  the  city  walls.  John's  words  were  a  flash  of 
intense  lightning,  transfiguring  the  ancient  ceremonies 
with  a  fearful  and  present  meaning.  Such  a  Man, 
submitting  to  such  a  baptism,  could  not  fail  to  go  much 
farther  along  the  valley  of  humiliation. 

Most  of  us  know  how  Paul  was  changed  when  he 
saw  Christ,  but  we  do  not  appreciate  the  similar  up- 
heaval in  John's  character  which  was  wrought  by  the 
mere  fact  of  our  Lord's  constant  and  sympathetic 
presence.  We  hear  no  more  of  his  denunciations,  just 
though  they  were.  Even  the  baptism  by  fire,  noble 
as  was  that  truth,  was  overshadowed.  It  was  the 
heroic  submissiveness  of  Jesus  that  captured  John's 
strong  soul.  He  spent  his  days,  saying  simply,  "  Be- 
hold the  Lamb  of  God  " ;  and  he  was  not  satisfied 
until  his  followers  did  behold.  Andrew  and  the  other 
John  went  after  Jesus,  and  at  His  invitation  spent 
their  first  evening  with  Him.  Andrew  at  once  told 
his  brother  Simon  that  he  had  found  the  Christ, 
and  brought  him  to  Jesus.  Our  Saviour  claimed  the 
man,  by  changing  his  name — not  that  the  change  was 
immediate;  it  was,  for  the  moment,  prophecy,  and 
Simon  again  returned  to  his  fishing.  Jesus  Himself 
found  Philip,  who  lived  at  Bethsaida;  and  as  His 
ministry  was  to  be  in  Galilee,  where  Philip  would  be 
useful,  He  took  him  from  John  and  the  Jordan,  and 


THE  BAPTISM  OF  THE  REDEEMER    115 

thus,  quietly  yet  inexorably,  asserted  His  paramount 
claim  on  every  disciple  of  every  human  teacher. 
Philip  discovered  his  friend,  Nathaniel,  and  shared 
with  him  the  news,  basing  his  message  on  what 
especially  weighed  with  an  Israelite  like  Nathaniel — 
namely,  the  law  and  the  prophets — and  Nathaniel 
promptly  raised  a  demurrer,  namely,  Nazareth.  Ap- 
parently, he  knew  nothing,  whether  of  Bethlehem  or 
of  Egypt,  nor  did  Jesus  argue  the  point  of  geography. 
Sweeping  all  that  aside.  He  welcomed  the  heart  in 
which  was  no  guile,  and  Nathaniel,  in  words  now 
immortal,  exclaimed,  "Whence  knowest  Thou  me?" 

The  Insight  of  Christ. 

It  was  not  Philip  who  told  Jesus  about  Nathaniel. 
To  Him,  who  loved  to  the  uttermost — for  compre- 
hension is  the  eyesight  of  love — seeing  a  man  was 
knowing  a  man,  and  Nathaniel,  sitting  under  the 
shade  of  a  fig-tree,  was  understood  from  his  leisure. 
And  Nathaniel,  on  his  side,  thought  that  the  character- 
reading  of  Jesus — itself  a  condemnation  of  palmistry, 
phrenology,  and  all  other  fortune-telling — was  itself 
a  miracle.  The  Saviour  was  Rabbi — Son  of  God — 
King  of  Israel.  And  the  Lord  did  not  deny  it.  On 
the  contrary,  for  the  first  of  many  times  He  answered 
with  that  "  Verily,  verily — Amen,  Amen,  I  say  unto 
you " — which  was  in  every  case  a  declaration  of 
supreme  authority.  Nathaniel  would  see  heaven  open, 
and  God's  messengers  ascending  from  and  descending 
to  the  Son  of  Man.  That  was  the  good  which  would 
arise  out  of  Nazareth  and  return  thither.  That  was 
the  new  geography  of  faith. 

John  the  beloved,  Simon  Peter,  Andrew,  Philip, 
Nathaniel — these  all  were  taught  by  the  Baptist,  and 


116  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

came  from  him  to  Jesus.  So  did  the  baptized  publi- 
cans. Nor  was  there  one  hint  that  John  would  found 
a  rival  sect  to  the  Church.  Years  later,  at  Ephesus, 
Apollos  and  other  Jews  only  knew  John's  baptism, 
but  they  readily  accepted  Paul's  fuller  gospel;  whereas 
the  Jews,  in  the  same  city,  who  did  not  follow  John, 
hardened  their  hearts  against  Jesus.  After  John's 
burial,  it  was  to  Jesus  that  his  followers  came;  and 
from  Him  they  learnt,  not  to  repent  and  confess 
merely,  but  to  pray. 

And  John  accepted  the  position.  He  realized  that 
as  his  Divine  Disciple  increased,  so  must  he,  the  human 
teacher,  decrease.  The  other  day,  I  counted  the 
churches  in  London  that  are  dedicated  to  the  Baptist 
and  found  how  few  they  are.  St.  George  himself  is  a 
more  popular,  if  somewhat  mythical,  patron.  Jesus 
had  stood  and  listened  to  John.  And  John's  "  joy 
was  fulfilled  "  when,  in  his  turn,  he  stood  and  listened 
to  Jesus.  As  he  listened,  he  uttered  the  majestic 
parable  in  which  Jesus  is  the  Bridegroom,  while  those 
who  love  Him  are  the  Bride,  and  John  is  the  friend  of 
the  Bridegroom,  who  rejoices  only  in  Another's  joy. 
It  was  a  singularly  tender  simile  in  the  mouth  of  the 
fierce  and  lonely  man  who  had  thundered  against 
the  generation  of  vipers,  but  the  words  were  noted  by 
one  at  least  of  the  Baptist's  Hsteners.  The  other 
John,  who  wrote  the  Gospel,  was  gripped  by  this 
great  idea  of  the  Church  as  "  the  Bride,"  which  filled 
his  mind  even  when  heaven  was  revealed  to  him.  As 
for  the  Baptist,  energy  and  assertiveness  mellowed 
into  humility,  and  having  been  faithful  in  rebuke,  he 
rose  to  the  grander  faithfulness  which  is  unto  death. 


XVI 

THE  REDEEMER  IS  TEMPTED 

Forty  Days  in  the  Wilderness — Answering  Temptation — The 
Enemy's  Sleepless  Hostility. 

WHEN  Milton  wrote  his  Paradise  Regained,  he 
only  showed  that  genius,  even  like  his,  can 
add  nothing  to  the  simple  yet  formidable  prose  which 
records  our  Saviour's  temptation  in  the  wilderness. 
One  would  have  thought  that  the  Spirit  like  a  Dove 
which  rested  on  Him  would  have  called  Him  at  once 
to  His  appointed  career  of  help  and  healing;  but 
what  happened  was  that  this  very  Spirit  drove  Him 
forth,  suddenly  and  inexorably,  to  the  dangers  and 
privations  of  an  empty  desert,  where  was  not  one  body 
to  be  healed  or  soul  to  be  saved. 

It  was  not  enough  to  submit,  as  Christ  did,  to  John's 
baptism.  Such  was  His  love  for  His  first  friend  that 
He  must  share  in  His  own  person  John's  deepest 
experiences.  He  must  brave  John's  solitary  life.  He 
must  endure  John's  loneliness.  From  which  it  follows 
that  the  explorer,  marooned  on  an  iceberg;  the 
criminal,  thinking  things  over  in  his  cell;  the  sailor, 
maintaining  his  wintry  vigil;  the  soldier,  tired  of  the 
trench;  the  missionary,  toiling  through  the  night  and 
praying  for  a  dawn  delayed;  the  student,  who  sees 

117 


ai8  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

self  writ  large  across  his  every  page — every  man,  every 
woman,  thus  isolated,  may  know  that  the  Lord  Jesus 
also  lived  where  no  human  comfort  could  sustain 
Him.  He  suffered  hunger,  as  on  the  Cross  He  suffered 
thirst,  and  was  so  utterly  neglected  by  mankind  that 
few  would  have  known  whether  He  lived  or  died. 
In  a  word,  the  Lord  seemed  to  be  quite  unimportant, 
just  a  forgotten  unit  among  millions,  a  single  line  in 
small  print  among  the  missing;  lacking  even  John's 
locusts  and  wild  honey — yet  still  illuminating  that 
amazing,  almost  defiant  declaration:  Though  He  slay 
Me,  yet  will  I  trust  in  Him.  It  was  a  foretaste  of  His 
whole  life;  He  was  amid  the  wild  beasts — that  was 
His  environment — but  angels  ministered  unto  Him, 
On  the  one  hand  raged  His  circumstances,  but 
within  was  peace. 

Forty  Days  in  the  Wilderness. 

The  world  is  too  much  with  us,  and  sometimes  we 
think  that  by  leaving  it  behind  we  must  perforce 
find  God.  The  monk,  the  nun,  and  the  anchorite 
so  arrange  their  lives.  It  was  after  forty  days  spent 
thus  in  the  mountain  that  Moses  saw  the  glory  of 
Jehovah  and  received  His  law.  It  was  after  forty 
days  in  the  desert  that  Elijah  heard  the  still  small 
voice.  And  Moses,  with  his  laws,  and  Elijah,  with  his 
vision,  were  our  Saviour's  chosen  companions  when 
He  was  transfigured  on  the  uplands.  Jesus  did 
not  ignore  the  secret  room  where,  with  the  door  closed, 
souls  submit  themselves  to  God.  Teaching  us  that 
no  one  is  great  who  cannot  be  his  own  intimate  friend, 
He  would  often  spend  a  whole  night  alone  upon  the 
mountain.  But  He  destroyed  asceticism  as  an  end  in 
itself.     For  Moses,  as  an  individual,  to  receive  the 


THE  REDEEMER  IS  TEMPTED         119 

law  was,  after  all,  nothing;  for  law,  by  its  nature, 
assumes  a  society.  Better  break  the  tables  to  frag- 
ments if  the  people  are  still  to  worship  the  golden  calf. 
When  Elijah  heard  God's  voice,  it  was  not  for  himself 
alone.  It  was  that  he  might  inspire  others — Hazael 
and  Jehu  and  Elisha.  The  transfigured  Christ,  with 
His  countenance  aflame  with  glory,  must  needs 
cure  the  epileptic  boy.  And  when  He  lay  prostrate 
in  the  desert,  His  body  famished.  His  every  sense 
vanquished,  what  He  discovered  was,  not  the  outward 
calm  of  the  cloister,  but  the  very  Devil  himself.  How 
terrible  that  experience  was  to  Him  we  know  from  His 
prayer :  "  Lead  us  not  into  temptation,  and  deliver 
us  from  the  Evil  One."  "  Watch  and  pray,"  said  He, 
"  lest  ye  enter  into  temptation."  The  weakness  of 
the  flesh,  the  willingness  of  the  spirit — He  tested  them 
both.  He  was  perfected  through  sufferings.  Vigi- 
lance and  worship  are  the  price  of  victory. 

And  by  His  wisdom,  so  costly  in  its  winning,  He 
makes  it  clear  to  us,  first,  that  He  is  with  us  always, 
even  when  we  are  most  alone;  and,  secondly,  that, 
where  possible,  we  should  do  His  work  in  association 
with  one  another.  He  sent  forth  His  disciples,  not 
singly,  but  in  couples,  that  the  strong  brother  might 
be  at  hand  to  help  the  weak  when  he  stumbles.  If 
things  are  desired,  or  if  things  have  to  be  decided, 
He  suggests  that  two  or  three  should  gather  together, 
when  He  will  be  in  the  midst,  bringing  every  private 
judgment  into  unity  with  His  own.  And  when  He 
rose  from  the  dead,  He  sent  His  disciples,  not  into  the 
wilderness,  which  He  knew  so  well,  but  into  Galilee, 
where  service — the  best  eternal  safeguard  against 
temptation — was  to  be  done.  After  His  ascension, 
His  disciples  had  to  face  the  future  without  His  bodily 


180  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

presence,  but  they  did  not  spend  their  forty  days  in 
the  desert,  each  by  himself ;  they  assembled  in  an  upper 
room,  like  a  family,  and  so  awaited  the  tongues  of 
fire.  There  was  safety,  there  was  helpfulness,  in 
numbers. 

Before  the  War  broke  out,  many  doubted  whether 
there  was  a  Devil.  They  talked  about  environment 
and  heredity,  but  they  denied  that  Evil,  like  Good  (or 
God),  is  personal;  and  gradually  God  faded  away  too. 
Nowadays,  we  are  not  quite  so  assured  of  our  nega- 
tions. Jesus  did  not  argue  about  the  existence  of 
Satan — He  did  not  ridicule  Beelzebub,  Prince  of 
Demons.  The  good  angel  and  the  bad  angel  were  to 
Him  as  actual  as  you  are  or  as  I  am.  Living  as  we 
live  in  a  vast  spiritual  universe.  He  had  eyes  to  see 
how  its  limitless  spaces  are  densely  peopled  by  souls, 
immortal,  yet  not  always  human,  with  wills  of  their 
own,  which  strive  with  man,  and  even  strive  with 
God.  We  have  seen  that  every  child  has  his  appointed 
angel,  and  that  twelve  legions  of  angels  were  at  the 
Christ's  immediate  command,  even  when  He  was  un- 
der arrest.  Similarly,  legions  of  demons — spiritual  in 
essence,  though  wicked  in  aim — encamp  within  the 
heart,  irresistible  until  a  Stronger  drive  them  forth — 
sifting  men,  as  Satan  sifted  Peter,  like  wheat,  and 
Judas,  like  the  chaff.  Modern  history  has  been  de- 
scribed as  the  failure  of  Christianity,  but  it  is  rather 
a  panorama  of  astonishing  conflict — grim,  incessant, 
pitiless — in  which  Christ  helps  us,  because,  amid 
poison  gas,  and  all  the  trickery  of  warfare,  He,  with 
eagle  eye  and  steady  finger,  has  located,  once  for 
all,  the  Arch-Enemy.  He  drew  the  fire,  and,  by  His 
heroic  reconnaissance,  unmasked  for  all  time  the 
entrenched  batteries  of  iniquity. 


THE  REDEEMER  IS  TEMPTED         121 

Answering  Temptation. 

We  marvel  at  Verdun — how  persistent  and  varied 
the  attack,  how  costly  the  defense!  And  as  Verdun 
has  been  of  value  only  as  the  symbol  of  France,  so  it 
was  the  soul,  worth  more  to  Him  than  all  the  world, 
for  which  our  Lord  fought  with  unflinching  courage. 
One  feels,  as  one  reads,  how  everything  depended 
on  the  issue  of  that  battle.  Thrust  and  counter- 
thrust  were  leveled  with  incomparable  skill.  The 
Devil  constantly  maintained  a  bold  and  varied  offen- 
sive. Our  Lord,  as  constantly,  was  ready  with  an  ex- 
actly direct  counter-attack.  All  His  Divine  knowledge, 
ready  for  instant  use,  was  available  as  munitions  of 
war.  There  was  not  one  page  in  Holy  Writ  that  did 
not  furnish  Him  with  a  high  explosive,  the  thunder  of 
which  reverberates  to  this  day.  He  did  not  waste 
one  moment  on  dates  and  authorship,  on  alleged  dis- 
crepancies and  erasures  in  manuscripts,  and  such-like 
bow-and-arrow  tactics.  He  took  the  words  as  written 
— placed  Himself  as  Scholar  on  the  level  of  anybody 
who  spends  sixpence  on  a  Bible  and  reads  it — and 
handling  texts,  as  an  accomplished  duelist  uses  his 
rapier.  He  parried  instantly  every  stroke. 

Though  a  battle  of  words,  and  words  alone,  here 
was  no  sham  fight.  To  Christ,  words  condemn  and 
words  justify  us.  It  is  the  word  of  the  diplomat  that 
sheds  the  blood  of  millions.  It  was  Christ's  refusal  to 
compromise  with  the  world  that  set  the  world  against 
Him;  and  with  the  flesh,  that  caused  His  flesh  to  be 
rent;  and  with  the  Devil,  that  brought  Him  inevitably 
to  the  day  when,  with  Him,  was  quenched  the  Light 
of  the  World,  leaving  the  Prince  of  Darkness  for  three 
hours  supreme.     It  is  a  true  instinct  that  leads  the 


122  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

bigot  to  burn  tlie  Bible,  and  the  despot  to  suppress 
freedom  of  speech.  The  thought  which  leaps  to  the 
lips  determines  the  fate,  not  of  mind  alone,  but  of 
money,  and  health,  and  thrones,  and  empires — 
hearths,  happiness,  heaven,  and  hell.  Others  rule 
with  a  rod  of  iron;  our  Lord  has  been  able  to  govern 
us  with  the  rod  of  His  mouth. 

Against  those  words  of  His  the  Devil  recoiled,  three 
times  baffled.  Yet,  throughout  this  opening  cam- 
paign, Satan  showed  that  he  knew  precisely  what  was 
the  prize  to  be  won.  His  blows  were  aimed,  not  at  our 
Lord's  body,  but  rather  at  His  soul.  He  did  not 
enter  into  the  wild  beasts,  as  his  demons  entered  into 
the  Gadarene  swine,  and  cause  them  to  attack  Jesus. 
The  food  with  which  he  tempted  Him  was  not  poisoned 
food,  except  to  the  immortal  part  of  Him.  Satan  did 
not  try  himself  to  cast  down  the  Saviour  from  the 
pinnacle  of  the  Temple.  Nor  did  he  desire  that  our 
Lord  should  be  dashed  in  pieces.  And  when  he  asked 
Jesus  to  worship  him,  he  did  not  threaten  Him  with 
death  if  He  refused.  All  he  wanted  was  that  the  soul 
should  go  astray.  Given  that  great  success,  he  would 
have  been  glad  to  see  the  Son  of  God  well  fed,  well 
clothed,  healthy,  popular,  and  even  philanthropic. 
To  this  extent,  if  I  may  say  so,  Jesus  and  His  antag- 
onist met  on  common  ground,  and  understood  one 
another.  They  realized,  both  of  them,  the  paramount 
value  of  the  unseen  life.  Neither  cared  for  anything 
else. 

The  Enemy's  Sleepless  Hostility. 

Reserving,  for  the  present,  some  words  about  the 
particular  temptations,  let  me  here  conclude  by  re- 
viewing, broadly,  the  strategy  which  began  at  Bethle- 


JHE  REDEEMER  IS  TEMPTED    US 

hem  and  ended  at  Calvary.  The  Prince  of  the  Power 
of  the  Air  worked  throughout,  not  directly,  and,  as  it 
were,  in  his  own  person,  but  by  instigating  or  influ- 
encing men,  so  that  at  one  point  Peter  himself  was 
addressed  by  our  Lord  as  "  Satan."  The  first  stroke 
was  an  attempted  assassination  at  Bethlehem.  The 
second  was  the  long  oblivion  of  Egypt  and  Nazareth. 
The  third  was  the  desperate  conflict  in  the  wilderness, 
after  which  the  Devil  left  Jesus  for  a  time.  In  the 
years  that  followed,  we  can  detect  frequent  traces  of 
the  enemy's  sleepless  hostility — how  men  tried  to 
make  Jesus  an  earthly  king;  sought  to  dissuade  Him 
from  going  up  to  Jerusalem  to  die;  slept  in  the  garden 
when,  in  agony,  He  prayed  that  the  cup  might  pass 
from  Him,  but  only  as  God  willed;  and  railed  on  Him 
when,  on  the  Cross,  He  cried  out  that  God  also  had 
forsaken  Him. 

During  this  conflict,  slowly  but  surely,  Jesus  forced 
the  Devil  back  from  the  spiritual  to  the  physical  plane. 
We  see  how,  as  His  soul  was  found  to  be  impregnable, 
His  body  was  drawn  into  danger.  At  Nazareth,  they 
tried  to  hurl  Him  from  a  precipice.  In  the  Temple, 
they  took  up  stones  to  stone  Him.  More  than  once, 
they  sent  to  arrest  Him,  but  dared  not  do  it  in  the  day- 
light. And,  with  all  this  going  on  around  Him,  our 
Lord  told  His  disciples  not  to  fear  those  who  could 
only  attack  the  body,  but  to  fear  Him  who  could 
destroy  body  and  soul  in  hell.  Whence  it  follows  that, 
in  every  age,  His  followers,  few  or  many,  have  been 
ready  to  suffer  even  torture  for  His  sake,  and  this  joy- 
fully, because  they  have  known  that  from  the  realms 
of  evil  thus  closely  confined  to  that  which  perishes  the 
eternal  in  man  has  been  finally  liberated. 


XVII 

THE  THREEFOLD  CORD 

Two  "Ifs" — Two  Trinities — The  Heavenly  Bread. 

WHAT  I  notice  first  about  these  three  temptations 
of  Christ  is  their  modern  aspect.  Though  the 
Lord  Jesus  had  been  Hving  a  trustful,  obedient,  and 
reverent  life,  yet,  by  an  "  if,"  there  came  a  suggestion 
that  would  change  everything  to  doubt,  self-will,  and 
pride.  When  to-day  we  discuss  His  divinity,  we  some- 
times think  that  we  are  confronted  by  a  new  problem. 
But  the  entire  range  of  this,  as  of  other  controversies, 
was  first  traveled  by  the  Son  of  God  Himself.  No 
misgivings  of  ours  are  more  baffling  than  those  which 
He  overcame.  And  He  did  not  face  them  as  we  do, 
with  millions  worshiping  Him  as  Lord.  It  was  in 
the  wilderness  alone,  with  one  book  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment as  His  support,  that,  so  to  speak,  He  wrestled  for 
His  Sonship.  Three  years  later,  the  struggle,  ever  in- 
termittent, was  renewed  in  all  its  violence,  for  in  His 
dying  moments  they  hurled  at  Him  that  same  "  if  " 
w^hich  He  heard  in  the  desert — calling  on  Him,  not 
indeed  to  cast  Himself  from  a  pinnacle  of  the  Temple, 
but  to  come  down  from  the  Cross,  and  so  prove  that 
He  was  Son  of  God.  When  He  said,  "  Father,  for- 
give them,  for  they  know  not  what  they  do  ";  when 

124 


THE  THREEFOLD  CORD  125 

again  He  said,  "  Father,  into  Thy  hands  I  commend 
My  spirit " — another  of  these  texts  that  denote  the 
Trinity — He  gave,  with  His  Hfe,  the  final  answer  to 
those  who  would  deny  His  birthright.  And  in  thus 
heroically  resisting  the  Unitarianism  of  His  day,  He 
fought  our  battle  as  well  as  His  own.  Jt  is  in  Him 
that  we  return  to  our  Father,  and  recover  our  place, 
consciously,  in  the  family  of  God.  He  died  in  order 
to  bring  many  sons  to  His  own  glory. 

Tm^o  "  I£s." 

In  appealing  to  our  Lord  with  an  "  if,"  the  Devil 
was  attacking  One  who  was  master  of  logic  as  of  every 
other  mental  process.  That  little  word  was  with  Him 
a  favorite;  but  where  the  Tempter  used  it  to  destroy, 
He  used  it  to  achieve.  When  Christ  said  "  if,"  He 
put  His  foot  firmly  on  the  rung  of  the  ladder,  leaned 
His  whole  weight  on  it,  and  so  mounted  upwards; 
but  in  Satan's  mouth  that  "  if  "  was  uttered  in  hope 
that  the  rung  would  break,  and  all  that  depends  on  it 
would  fall  to  the  ground.  "  If,"  argued  Jesus,  "  I  be 
lifted  up,  I  will  draw  all  men  unto  Me."  It  seemed  a 
great  result  to  follow  from  one  single  crucifixion,  but 
history  has  shown  that  the  effect  has  followed  the 
cause.  Jesus,  lifted  up,  does  draw  all  men  unto  Him. 
"If  I  go  away,"  to  My  Father,  "  I  will  come  again 
and  receive  you  unto  Myself."  Once  more,  it  was  not 
obvious  that  His  disappearance  would  promote  that 
reunion,  but  we  now  see  that  His  reasoning  ran  deeper 
than  ours.  Because  in  the  Body  He  has  gone  away, 
therefore  we  are  nearer  to  God,  and  He  draws  us 
thither.  Moreover,  He  would  have  us  be  consistent, 
scientific  in  our  friendship  for  Him.  "  If,"  said  He, 
"  ye  love  Me,  keep  My  commandments  " —  than  which 


126  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

no  syllogism  could  be  clearer  or  more  challenging. 
Utterly  different  from  these  sayings  of  our  Lord  was 

the  Devil's :  "  If  Thou  be  the  Son  of  God " 

From  these  temptations  we  learn  that  evil  is  strong 
because  it  is  complex.  The  good  is  a  trinity  and  so  is 
the  bad — a  threefold  cord,  as  the  Preacher  said,  which 
is  not  easily  broken,  Matthew  and  Luke  each  describe 
the  temptations,  but  in  different  orders,  as  if  the 
strands  of  the  rope  were  twisted,  yet  without  losing 
their  identity,  which  is  eternal.  At  the  beginning  of 
time,  Eve  was  tempted  by  the  ideas  that  the  tree  was 
good  for  food,  that  is  the  flesh;  pleasant  to  the  eyes, 
which  means  the  world;  and  flattering  to  the  mind, 
which  is  the  Devil.  In  the  Garden  of  Eden,  you  have 
thus  the  world,  the  flesh,  the  Devil,  these  three,  in 
one  act  of  transgression.  Thousands  of  years  later, 
John  the  Apostle  wrote  similarly  about  the  lust  of  the 
flesh,  the  lust  of  the  eyes,  and  the  pride  of  life — again, 
the  same  three  references  to  our  bodies  which  feel; 
our  circumstances  which  we  see;  and  our  minds  in 
which  we  live.  Our  Lord,  in  His  prayer,  used  to-day 
in  empires  wider  far  than  Rome,  opens  up  the  same 
thoughts.  "  Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread,"  said 
He;  and  so  sustain  our  bodies.  "Lead  us  not  into 
temptation  " ;  and  so  safeguard  us  in  our  surround- 
ings. "And  deliver  us  from  the  Evil  One";  who 
attacks  and  would  destroy  the  soul.  Such  strange 
and  apparently  undesigned  correspondences  show 
that,  in  His  temptations,  our  Lord  touched  the  very 
secret  springs  of  all  human  trouble.  Some  will  fail 
by  self-indulgence — they  drink,  or  are  vicious,  or  take 
drugs,  or  gamble;  others  exercise  a  rigid  control  over 
themselves  in  these  matters,  but  are  enslaved  to  the 
world,  yearn  for  self-advertisement,  and  depend  for 


THE  THREEFOLD  CORD  127 

happiness  on  social  position;  while  there  are  others 
again  who  care  nothing  for  creature  comforts  and 
nothing  for  society,  but  are  satisfied  with  the  final 
luxury  of  pride.  They  live  hard  and  die  poor,  but 
they  worship  the  Devil,  Thus,  ranged  before  us, 
rises  the  whole  hierarchy  of  tempted  men — first,  the 
drunkard  and  the  vicious;  secondly,  the  millionaire, 
the  monarch,  the  politician,  the  champion  wrestler, 
the  actor,  the  popular  preacher,  the  great  official;  and 
thirdly,  the  scholar,  the  inquisitor,  the  stoic,  the 
extremist.  To  us,  the  first  class  alone  seems  dis- 
reputable; the  second  is,  on  the  whole,  envied  and  re- 
spected; while  the  last  includes  the  saints!  But,  to 
the  Lord  Jesus,  it  was  easier  to  deal  with  the  publican 
and  the  harlot  than  with  the  ninety-and-nine  just  per- 
sons who  need  no  repentance;  while  one  of  His  most 
pointed  warnings  was  against  those  genuinely  pious 
persecutors  who,  in  killing  His  followers,  would  think 
that  they  were  doing  God  service.  The  Devil  is  always 
dangerous,  but  never  more  dangerous  than  when  he 
appears  as  an  angel  of  light. 

Two  Trinities. 

The  trinity  of  evil  and  the  trinity  of  good  thus 
correspond,  not  by  any  artificial  theological  con- 
vention, but  inevitably,  by  experience,  by  fact. 
When  Satan  urged  Christ  to  turn  the  stones  into  bread, 
he  denied  that  God,  the  Father,  cares  for  His  children. 
When  he  suggested  that  Jesus  should  cast  Himself 
down  from  the  pinnacle  of  the  Temple,  he  was  denying 
that  God  the  Son  would  be  His  own  revelation.  And 
when  he  demanded  that  the  Saviour  should  worship 
him,  he  sought  to  expel  the  Holy  Spirit.  Of  the 
three  cardinal  virtues,  faith  was  to  be  undermined, 


128  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

hope  was  to  be  shattered,  and  love  was  to  be  poisoned. 
Nor,  as  we  shall  see,  did  Jesus  ever  forget  the  ordeal. 
I  have  shown  how  three  positive  petitions  in  His 
prayer  recall  His  three  temptations.  So  also  do  the 
beginning  of  that  prayer  and  its  conclusion.  Worship 
the  Devil?  No,  He  answers;  "Hallowed  be  Thy 
Name."  Throw  Myself  from  a  pinnacle?  No,  again; 
let  "  Thy  kingdom  come,"  as  it  must  come,  without 
observation.  Turn  stones  into  bread?  Once  more. 
No;  let  "Thy  will  be  done."  And  as  the  prayer 
draws  to  a  close,  we  have,  as  a  kind  of  coda,  a  declara- 
tion that  God's  must  be  the  Kingdom — the  destiny  of 
man;  the  power — determining  his  circumstances;  and 
the  glory — demanding  his  reverence;  for  ever  and 
ever;  to  which  He  adds  Amen — His  sign-manual,  final 
and  irrevocable. 

The  temptations  gain  in  influence  because  they  are 
so  plausible,  li  a  man  be  the  child  of  God,  then  surely 
he  has  the  right  to  turn  stones  into  bread  when  he  is 
starving!  The  revolutionary  women  who  attacked 
Versailles  did  no  more  than  this.  Nations,  living 
mainly  at  a  week's  notice,  will  ever  listen  when  the 
Devil  talks  glibly  about  the  bread  ration.  We  are 
all  apt  to  snatch  at  our  food ;  to  seize  the  profit  which 
is  not  quite  equitable;  to  speculate;  to  take  unfair 
advantages.  And  sometimes  what  we  call  our  bread 
includes  many  other  things  that  are  not  really  neces- 
sary; and  we  perish,  not  for  lack  of  food,  but  by  dread 
of  reduced  circumstances. 

Jesus  knows  it  all.  Having  Himself  suffered  hun- 
ger He  was  ever  kind  to  those  in  like  case.  When  the 
disciples  fed  themselves  with  corn  on  the  Sabbath 
day.  He  defended  them.  Twice,  He  was  the  one  to 
provide   food   for   the  people,   who   fainted   because 


THE  THREEFOLD  CORD  129 

they  followed  Him.  The  last  of  His  miracles  was  to 
give  a  breakfast  for  the  Apostles,  who  were  tired  with 
a  weary  night's  fishing  in  which  they  caught  nothing. 
And  one  of  His  tenderest  sayings  is  the  question 
whether  our  Heavenly  Father  would  be  so  much  more 
cruel  than  an  earthly  father  as  to  give  us  stones — how 
it  reminds  us  of  the  wilderness  and  the  temptation! 
— stones  for  bread,  or  a  scorpion — again  the  wilder- 
ness!— for  a  fish. 

The  Heavenly  Bread. 

It  was  thus  with  full  knowledge  that  He  tells  us 
not  to  labor  for  the  meat  that  perisheth.  Men  live, 
not  merely  by  material  bread,  but  by  every  word  that 
proceedeth  out  of  the  mouth  of  God.  It  was  not  a 
visionary  who  said  this;  the  utterance  came  first 
through  Moses,  a  practical  statesman,  on  whom  lay 
the  responsibility  for  a  commissariat  that  should 
suffice  for  an  entire  nation,  advancing  through  a  desert 
which  is  still  almost  impenetrable.  And,  when  Jesus 
quoted  the  words,  it  was  in  no  unreal  sense,  for  He  had 
studied  the  making  of  bread,  and  mentions  all  those 
orderly  processes — the  sowing,  the  reaping,  the  win- 
nowing of  the  corn,  the  grinding,  the  kneading  with 
leaven,  and  the  very  breaking  of  it  with  hands,  at  the 
Supper-table.  And  when  the  disciples,  who  had  left 
Him  wearily  resting  at  the  well  of  Samaria,  returned 
to  find  Him  refreshed,  they  learnt  by  actual  observa- 
tion that  His  meat  was  to  do  the  will  of  His  Father 
and  finish  His  work.  Duty  did  not  make  Him  weaker, 
but  stronger.  He  took  no  holiday,  required  no  stimu- 
lant, was  indifferent  to  tonics  and  pick-me-ups. 
"Master,"  said  they,  "eat";  they  brought  Him  the 
bread;  but  they  never  forgot  how,  in  taking  it,  He 


130  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

spoke  to  them  of  the  same  heavenly  food  which  sus- 
tahied  Him  amid  the  moctcing  bowlders  of  the  desert. 
Men  are  too  apt,  everywhere,  to  regard  themselves 
as  soldiers  of  fortune,  sent  forth  to  forage  in  the  world 
for  food.  Jesus  teaches  us  that  there  is  still  manna, 
sent  from  Heaven,  if  we  will  be  humble  enough  to 
gather  it;  there  are  ravens  which  will  bring  us  morsels; 
there  is  the  cruse  of  oil  that  is  not  exhausted;  there 
are  the  loaves  and  fishes  that  multiply;  there  are  the 
angels  that  come  and  minister  to  us.  He  who  could 
(but  would  not)  turn  the  stones  into  bread  to  feed 
Himself,  gave  His  own  Body  to  feed  the  world,  that 
we  may  be  satisfied,  not  with  bread  alone,  but  with 
Him,  as  the  Word,  imparted  to  us  as  we  need,  and  so 
received — not  a  portion  of  the  Word,  but  all  of  it — 
every  word — a  complete  and  perfect  dietary,  sufficient 
for  all  life — both  here  and  hereafter,  since  it  proceeds 
for  us,  and  only  for  us,  direct  from  the  mouth  of  God, 
who  loves  us,  who  knows  us,  who  has  visited  us. 
And  as  He  forgot  His  hunger  in  feeding  others,  so 
does  He  ask  us,  like  Peter,  to  show  our  love  by  feeding 
His  lambs.  He  asks  us,  not  once,  nor  twice,  but  thrice, 
because  the  need  is  urgent.  The  people  faint  for  lack 
of  that  Living  Bread. 


XVIII 
ON  THE  PINNACLE  OF  THE  TEMPLE 

The  Way  of  Salvation — Christ  the  Hero — Christ  and  Bravado. 

SEARCH  the  world,  and  you  would  not  have 
found  a  loftier  or  more  sacred  position  for  the 
Son  of  God  to  occupy  than  the  pinnacle  of  the  Temple. 
He  stood  there,  lonely  and  unapproachable,  silent 
and  motionless,  like  a  sculptured  saint  on  the  portal  of 
some  ancient  cathedral — safe  from  reproach  or  ir- 
reverence, ready  to  receive  the  devotion  of  mankind. 
Here  was  the  ecclesiastical  Christ,  Divine  yet  solitary, 
only  to  be  met  at  church,  or  by  leave  of  the  priests; 
and  so  far  elevated  above  us  that  we  cannot  see  Him 
clearly,  or  tell  Him  of  our  needs,  still  less  feel  His 
touch.  The  Devil  would  have  frustrated  our  salva- 
tion if  he  had  been  able  thus  to  treat  our  Lord  as  a 
prisoner  of  the  Temple,  rigid,  erect,  and  helpless.  To 
turn  the  living  Jesus  into  a  pillar  of  stone  has  been 
in  every  age  a  favorite  diabolical  device.  The  saints 
themselves  have  so  suffered,  and  millions  who  revere 
St.  Francis  as  an  image  can  tell  you  little  of  St. 
.Francis  as  a  man. 

How  long  our  Lord  waited  on  that  pinnacle  we 
do  not  know,  for  the  crowds  below  did  not  once 
raise  their  eyes  to  Him;  indeed,  the  precise  mischief 

131 


132  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

with  them  was  that  they  could  not  look  upwards, 
but  were  of  the  earth,  earthy,  and  had  to  see  our 
Saviour  face  to  face,  if  at  all,  Jesus  did  not  shun 
publicity.  He  knew  that,  like  the  serpent  in  the 
wilderness,  He  must  be  "  lifted  up,"  and  killed  as  if 
He  were  an  accursed  thing;  but  when  He  was  so 
crucified.  He  was  still  near  to  the  people  whom  He 
died  to  save.  They  could  insult  Him,  hear  what  He 
said,  speak  to  Him,  offer  Him  vinegar  to  drink,  and 
plunge  a  spear  into  His  side.  And  as  He  climbed  the 
Mountain  of  Transfiguration,  He  did  not,  like  Moses, 
leave  all  His  disciples  behind,  but  took  three  of  them 
with  Him;  and  when  He  came  to  them  amid  the 
storm,  He  did  not  fly,  like  an  angel,  but  walked  on  the 
water.  It  was  a  real  storm  and  He  really  faced  it.  It 
was  just  because  He  left  the  pinnacle  of  the  Temple 
that  His  influence  spread  in  so  many  directions.  On 
the  pinnacle.  He  could  not  move  one  inch, — He  was  as 
impotent  to  save  as  a  Crucifix, — but  on  the  highways 
of  life  He  could  walk  about — southwards,  to  Jeru- 
salem, the  place  of  religion;  eastwards,  to  Jericho, 
where  dwelt  the  lapsed  masses;  northwards,  to  Caper- 
naum— the  Manchester  of  Gennesaret;  westwards,  to 
Tyre  and  Sidon,  the  colonies  by  the  ocean.  He  was 
familiar  with  Cana,  where  people  were  interested  in  a 
wedding,  and  with  Nain,  where  they  were  attending  a 
funeral.  He  visited  Bethany,  the  village  of  home  life, 
and  thus  was  an  example  for  all — that  we  should  not 
speak  of  Him  only  in  pulpit  language,  pompously,  or 
with  erudite  phrases,  keeping  Him,  as  it  were,  to  our- 
selves; nor  display  jealousy  if  commoner  folk  throng 
around  Him  and,  in  their  own  way,  which  may  be  less 
ceremonious  than  ours,  make  Him  their  own. 


ON  THE  PINNACLE  OF  THE  TEMPLE     133 

The  Way  of  Salvation. 

People  are  very  slow  to  learn  the  wisdom  of  Jesus. 
Years  later,  there  was  one  of  His  followers,  St.  Simeon 
Stylites,  who  still  sought  holiness  on  the  top  of  a  pillar. 
Others  have  tortured  themselves  with  flagellation  or 
the  hair  shirt,  or  have  taken  the  Trappist  vow  of 
silence.  In  India  there  are  thousands  of  fakirs  who 
hope  for  God's  kingdom  in  pain,  extending  their  limbs 
until  they  wither,  or  subjecting  themselves  to  hooks 
and  nails  and  glowing  metal.  Jesus  did  not  shrink 
from  agony.  In  the  garden.  His  sweat  was  as  the 
blood  which  was  so  soon  to  flow  from  the  thorns  on 
His  forehead.  But  He  did  not  regard  pain  as  an  equiv- 
alent of  life.  The  man  who  cut  himself  with  stones 
was,  to  Him,  like  the  priests  of  Baal  who  cut  themselves 
with  knives,  not  a  saint  but  a  demoniac,  and  He  pre- 
ferred that  he  should  sit,  clothed  and  in  his  right  mind. 

It  is  true  that  He  said,  "  If  thy  hand  offend  thee, 
cut  it  off,"  and  "  if  thine  eye  cause  thee  to  stumble, 
pluck  it  out."  Limbs  are  a  peril  except  in  so  far  as 
they  serve  the  soul;  and  eyes  are  a  snare,  save  as  they 
let  in  the  light.  There  is  no  salvation,  as  the  Greeks 
thought,  in  athletics;  no  redemption  in  the  beauty  of 
muscle  and  tendon.  On  the  other  hand,  our  Lord  had 
no  need  to  lose  either  His  hands  or  His  eyes,  since 
He  constantly  devoted  them  to  His  appointed  service. 
It  was  with  His  hands  that  He  blessed  the  children, 
broke  the  bread,  raised  the  fallen,  unstopped  the  ears 
of  the  deaf,  and  opened  the  eyes  of  the  blind.  And 
His  own  eyes — what  wonders  of  sympathy  and  help- 
fulness and  indignation  did  they  not  accomplish ! 
Those  eyes  looked  on  the  rich  young  ruler  and  revealed 
the  love  of  the  Master;  and  on  Peter,  who  went  forth, 


134.  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

broken  yet  redeemed,  to  weep  bitterly.  Our  Lord 
reverenced  all  that  His  Father  gave  Him.  He  valued 
His  Body  and  bore  it  with  Him  to  the  throne  of  God, 
there  to  render  an  account  of  it.  It  was  the  Creator's 
respect  for  the  thing  created.  And,  in  Him,  we  also 
are  delivered,  on  the  one  hand  from  the  practice  of 
persecuting  the  bodies  of  others,  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  from  the  delusion  that  there  is  holiness  in  muti- 
lating and  torturing  our  own.  What  saves  the  body  is 
not  its  beauty  but  the  consecration  of  it.  We  gain  life 
by  giving  it. 

Christ  the  Hero. 

As  Jesus  stood,  unrecognized,  on  that  dizzy  emi- 
nence of  the  pinnacle,  it  seemed  once  more  that  He 
had  failed.  And  there  appeared  to  surge  through  His 
mind  the  accumulated  discouragement  of  those  thirty 
years — the  neglect  of  Bethlehem — the  oblivion  of 
Egypt — the  contempt  of  Jerusalem — and  the  obscurity 
of  Nazareth.  The  Devil,  mocking  as  he  sought  to 
seduce,  repeated  his  "  if  " — if  Thou  be  the  Son  of 
God,  cast  Thyself  down.  Our  Lord  encountered  every 
kind  of  danger.  At  birth.  He  was  nearly  murdered. 
He  braved  the  wild  beasts.  He  was  a  mountaineer. 
Twice  was  He  threatened  with  drowning.  In  the 
Temple,  the  rioters  tried  to  stone  Him.  At  Nazareth, 
they  would  have  thrown  Him  from  a  cliff.  He  did  not 
fear  the  infection  of  fever,  but  visited  Peter's  mother- 
in-law  and  healed  her.  Ever  ready  to  touch  the  leper, 
He  risked  even  that  most  terrible  of  all  Eastern  con- 
tagions. When  He  knew  that  Judas  would  betray 
Him,  He  did  not  leave  Jerusalem,  but  continued 
talking  with  His  disciples,  and  joined  with  them  in 
singing  their  evening  hymn. 


ON  THE  PINNACLE  OF  THE  TEMPLE     135 

But  He  would  not  trifle  with  His  life.  He  only 
touched  the  leper  in  order  to  heal,  and  only  walked  on 
the  water  in  order  to  rescue.  As  He  did  not  defy  the 
Law  of  Moses,  so  He  did  not  defy  the  law  of  gravity, 
which  so  wonderfully  unites  the  material  world  by 
unseen  yet  universal  attractions.  But  He  made  it 
clear  that  if  as  Son  of  Man  He  was  subject  to  these 
laws,  as  Son  of  God  He  was  Master  of  them.  As  man, 
He  quoted  Moses,  who  said,  "  An  eye  for  an  eye  and  a 
tooth  for  a  tooth  ";  but  as  God,  He  added  the  Sermon 
on  the  Mount.  As  man.  He  did  not  fling  Himself 
from  the  pinnacle  of  the  Temple;  but  as  God,  He  did 
tread  the  Sea  of  Galilee. 

"  Cast  thyself  down "  sums  up  all  the  arts  of 
sensationalism,  whereby  we  advertise  our  religion, 
our  pohtics,  our  arts,  our  social  position.  The  preacher 
who  depends  on  language,  on  epigram,  on  voice  and 
gesture — who  attracts  admiration  to  himself  and  thinks 
of  how  it  will  strike  the  public — that  man,  that  woman, 
is  very  near  the  peril  of  the  pinnacle.  This  temptation 
was  the  ruin  of  Savonarola.  The  ordeal  by  fire,  which 
is  to  prove  God,  is  an  impious  perversion  of  the  mar- 
tyrdom by  fire,  which  proves  man. 

Christ  and  Bravado. 

Imagine,  if  you  can,  what  would  have  been  the 
disaster  to  faith,  if  our  Lord  had  flung  Himself  down 
among  the  people.  Good  men  and  women,  anxious  to 
follow  Him,  would  have  committed  every  extrava- 
gance, and  the  whole  impulse  of  the  Church  would 
have  been  directed  to  the  unusual  in  life,  leaving  un- 
touched the  average  and  regular  claims  of  every  day. 
On  these  terms,  the  few  only  could  have  become  dis- 
ciples.   If  the  many  had  so  believed  and  so  acted,  so- 


136  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

ciety  would  have  been  disorganized.  Our  Lord  worked 
many  miracles,  and  had  a  reason  for  so  doing,  which 
we  will  examine  in  due  course;  but  His  wonders  were 
never  inspired  by  bravado.  He  did  not  cast  Himself 
down  from  the  pinnacle.  He  did  not  allow  Himself  to 
be  cast  down  over  the  precipice  of  Nazareth,  He  did 
not  gratify  Herod's  desire  for  a  state  performance  of 
the  healing  power,  either  during  His  ministry,  or  at 
His  trial.  When  He  cleansed  the  leper,  He  told  him 
strictly  to  say  nothing  about  it,  except  to  the  priest. 
When  He  raised  the  daughter  of  Jairus,  He  expelled 
all  witnesses  save  the  parents  and  three  others.  When 
He  cured  a  deaf  and  dumb  man,  He  took  him  aside, 
and  so  dealt  with  his  malady.  To  us,  a  miracle  arouses 
faith.  To  Him,  a  miracle  rewarded  faith.  He  could 
do  no  mighty  work  in  His  own  country  because  of 
their  unbelief  after  seeing  Him  at  His  bench;  and  the 
generation  that  sought  after  a  sign  was  wicked  and 
adulterous,  since,  in  professing  to  worship  God,  it  de- 
manded a  gratification  of  the  eye. 

The  miracles  that  He  achieved — amazing  though 
they  were — were  less  of  miracles  than  those  which, 
having  that  power,  He  refused  to  perform.  It  was 
true,  as  Satan  said,  that  He  could  command  the  angels 
— twelve  legions  of  them — who  would  have  kept  Him 
in  all  His  ways,  including  Gethsemane.  Neither  on 
the  pinnacle  nor  in  the  garden  did  He  summon  them. 
He  won  all  His  victories  without  the  big  battalions. 
He  could  have  come  down  from  the  Cross  and  left  the 
thieves  impotently  hanging  there.  But  He  refused 
the  very  narcotic  that  would  have  eased  His  sufferings, 
and  in  consciousness  and  sanity  drained  the  dregs  of 
what  He  had  to  undergo.  His  greatest  miracle  was 
not  Power,  but  Love;  and  that  Love  was  God, 


XIX 

HE  LEAVES  THE  WILDERNESS 

"  One  Unalterable  Magna  Charta  " — The  Wiles  of  the  Devil — 
Christ  and  the  Scriptures — Worship  First. 

THOSE  who  read  these  little  studies  will  bear 
with  me  if  I  take  a  further  glimpse,  and  a  final 
one,  at  our  Lord  and  His  tempter.  He  had  many 
private  interviews,  as  with  Nicodemus  by  night;  but 
here  in  the  desert  He  was  quite  alone — there  was 
no  witness  of  what  happened  except  the  Devil.  And 
what  makes  the  narrative  so  compelling  of  attention 
is  that  it  was  thus  strictly  autobiographical — a  personal 
disclosure  by  Christ  Himself.  He  who  was  afterwards 
the  Friend  of  publicans  and  sinners  here  asserted 
that,  behind  the  scenes,  His  constant  and  unwelcome 
associate  had  been  the  Evil  One. 

Many  and  terrible  as  were  the  blasphemies  pro- 
nounced against  His  character,  no  one  ever  suggested 
that  Jesus  was,  during  those  six  weeks,  other  than  sin- 
less. And  this  is  the  more  notable  because  He  had  to 
face  constant  calumnies,  of  which  the  most  iniquitous 
was  a  charge  of  what  we  should  call  witchcraft.  When 
He  rebuked  people,  they  said  He  had  a  devil;  and  when 
He  healed  them,  it  was  by  the  prince  of  the  devils 
that  He  cast  out  devils.    Yet  these  wicked  allegations 

137 


138  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

did  not  once  include  a  reference  to  the  wilderness. 
The  Slanderer  who  inspired  the  abuse  was  silent  about 
that  experience.  The  tongue  of  the  whisperer,  who 
spares  the  private  life  of  no  public  man,  was  here 
tied  and  dumb.  To  the  accounts  of  the  matter  in  the 
Gospels  there  is  no  alternative  record.  Those  docu- 
ments stand  unchallenged,  and  it  would  be  irreverence 
even  to  suggest  the  measureless  contrast  between  our 
Lord's  inner  experiences  and  those,  let  us  say,  of 
Mohammed  or  Buddha. 

"  One  Unalterable  Magna  Charta." 

Influence  is  reciprocal,  and  in  resisting  temptation 
Jesus  gave  even  the  very  Tempter  a  chance.  The 
Master  did  not  content  Himself  with  saying  that  man 
shall  live  by  every  word  proceeding  from  the  mouth  of 
God.  As,  later,  He  preached  to  the  spirits  in  prison, 
so  here  He  came  to  closer  quarters  with  His  adversary, 
offering  him  personally  the  very  word  which  sustained 
the  Chosen  People  when  they  crossed  that  same  bleak 
and  torrid  region.  Thou,  He  declared,  shalt  not 
tempt  the  Lord  thy  God.  Thou  shalt  worship  the 
Lord  thy  God  and  Him  only  shalt  thou  serve.  The 
message  of  God  to  man  was  thus  seen  to  be,  not  a  local 
by-law  for  a  planet,  wandering,  a  speck  of  dust, 
through  boundless  space.  It  is  the  one  unalterable 
Magna  Charta,  for  all  that  lives  in  every  region — be  it 
in  time  or  be  it  in  eternity,  be  it  in  spirit  or  be  it  in 
body.  The  claim  is  absolute,  here  and  hereafter,  on 
the  proudest  and  most  rebellious,  as  on  the  humblest 
and  the  weakest,  Satan  set  out  to  seduce  the  Son  of 
Man  into  worshiping  him.  He  found  that  he  was  tempt- 
ing his  God,  to  whom  all  service  and  worship  were  due. 

As  one  reads  these  accounts,  one  realizes  what  is 


HE  LEAVES  THE  WILDERNESS         139 

sometimes  forgotten,  namely,  that  our  Lord  and  the 
Devil  did  not  here  meet  for  the  first  time.  Not  long 
afterwards,  He  Himself  told  the  people  that  Satan 
was  the  father  of  lies  and  a  murderer  from  the  begin- 
ning— that  beginning  when  the  Word,  since  made 
flesh,  dwelt  with  God.  He  could  detect  at  a  glance  the 
lineaments  of  that  evil  spirit,  incarnate,  as  it  were, 
in  the  faces  of  men.  It  was  the  Devil  who  picked  up 
the  good  seed  and  sowed  tares  amid  the  wheat.  It  was 
the  Devil  who  established  his  fatherhood  over  the 
stubborn  and  argumentative  Jews — turning  their  grip 
of  truth  into  the  clutch  of  self  and  sin.  It  was  the 
Devil  who,  contaminating  kindliness  itself,  prompted 
Peter  to  dissuade  the  Saviour  from  His  purpose  to 
meet  death  at  Jerusalem,  and  would  have  sifted  that 
Apostle  like  grain.  Nor  did  Jesus  for  one  instant 
doubt  that  the  Devil  lived  in  an  outer  darkness  where 
was  weeping,  as  of  sorrow,  and  gnashing  of  teeth,  as 
of  anger  and  pain.  The  Everlasting  Son  of  God  did 
not  doubt,  because  He  knew  it  as  a  fact.  He  had 
watched  the  Devil  from  the  beginning.  And  it  was  be- 
cause He  thus  knew  the  Devil  that  He  afterwards 
fathomed  the  tragedy  of  the  Iscariot's  heart. 

The  Wiles  of  the  Devil. 

In  modern  war,  the  combatants  are  concealed  and 
their  plans  held  secret.  But  goodness  is  armed  cap- 
a-pie,  and  rides  panoplied  into  the  field,  with  helmet 
and  breastplate  and  sword  flashing  recklessly  in  the 
Sun  of  Righteousness.  When  the  temptations  were 
failing  of  their  objective,  the  Devil,  with  insidious 
tact,  summoned  Scripture  to  his  aid,  quoting  a  psalm, 
every  verse  of  which  applied  to  our  Lord's  special 
trouble  in  the   wilderness.     We  seem  to   hear  our 


140  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

Saviour  repeating  to  Himself  those  matchless  verses 
which  He  had  learnt  in  the  synagogue,  about  the 
secret  place  of  the  Most  High,  the  shadow  of  the  Al- 
mighty, the  lion  and  the  adder,  the  young  lion  and  the 
dragon,  to  be  trampled  underfoot.  Here  were  the 
armorial  bearings  of  Satan,  known  the  world  over — 
the  serpent  that  poisons  life  and  the  lion  that  devours 
it,  opposed  in  deadly  conflict  to  the  Redeemer  who 
saves  life.  It  was  from  this,  of  all  other  psalms,  that, 
with  remorseless  ingenuity,  the  Devil  drew  his  dead- 
liest "  arrow  "  to  aim  at  the  nobler  "  Lion  of  Judah." 
This  subtle  foe  does  not  merely  pander  to  the  worst 
in  man;  he  accommodates  himself  to  the  best; 
"quoting  Scripture  for  his  purpose";  falsifying 
statistics;  changing  affections  into  vices,  hopes  into 
ambitions,  faith  into  credulity,  worship  into  super- 
stition, art  into  seduction,  law  into  cruelty,  liberty 
into  license,  churches  into  vested  interests;  and,  as 
here,  a  sense  of  God's  care,  of  the  angels  bearing  us  up 
lest  we  dash  our  foot  against  a  stone,  into  the  habit  of 
taking  things  for  granted,  as  if  we  may  be  sure  of 
safety  however  willfully  we  choose  our  path.  In  the 
New  Testament,  we  frequently  come  across  para- 
phrases and  summaries  of  what  is  said  in  the  Old 
Testament.  The  Jewish  Bible  was  handled,  not  slav- 
ishly, but  with  a  splendid  and  audacious  familiarity. 
But,  in  the  Devil's  mouth,  the  accuracy  was  that  of  a 
forger.  The  omission  was  the  more  deliberate,  because 
the  words  quoted  were  exact. 

Christ  and  the  Scriptures. 

To  Jesus,  at  that  supreme  moment,  a  merely  general 
acquaintance  with  the  Bible  would  have  been  useless. 
He  had  need  to  know  its  every  parenthesis  as  a  lawyer 


HE  LEAVES  THE  WILDERNESS  141 

scrutinizes  each  word  in  a  complicated  title-deed. 
Few  of  us,  hearing  that  ninety-first  Psalm  chanted, 
would  have  attached  supreme  importance  to  the  little 
phrase  about  being  kept  in  all  our  ways;  yet  we  have 
therein  a  summing  up  of  the  entire  revelation  of  God 
to  the  Jews.  They  were  a  chosen  people.  They  had 
an  appointed  history.  They  were  not  mere  flotsam 
and  jetsam  on  the  sands  of  time.  In  all  their  ways 
they  were  to  acknowledge  Him,  and  He  would  direct 
their  paths.  Iniquity  is  just  this — a  turning  to  our 
own  way.  And  the  whole  point  of  the  charge  unto 
the  angels  to  bear  us  up  lest  we  be  injured,  is  that  the 
way  is  stony,  uneven,  and  not  at  all  what  we  would 
ourselves  choose.  He  does  not  remove  the  stones. 
But,  on  the  other  hand.  He  would  not  have  us 
"  dashed  "  against  them.  We  may  appear  to  make 
no  progress — but  that  matters  little.  What  He  would 
save  us  from  is  the  fate  of  the  disappointed  man. 
Whatever  may  happen  to  our  feet.  He  would  not 
have  our  souls  bruised. 

In  all  of  which,  we  find  the  answer  to  fatalism.  Our 
path  lies  before  us — that  is  plain;  but  we  are  not  the 
sport  of  a  blind  destiny.  We  can,  if  we  so  determine, 
tempt — we  can  take  liberties  with — the  Lord  our  God. 
Providence,  like  science,  excludes  chance,  or  luck; 
yet  there  was  a  truth  in  the  idea  of  the  pagan  that  the 
gods  ought  not  to  be  offended.  To  steam  full  speed 
through  icebergs  is  irreligious.  To  start  the  day 
without  one  thought  of  our  Maker  is  to  invite  catas- 
trophe. And  we  are  sometimes  less  punctilious  with 
the  Almighty  than  we  are  with  our  employers,  or  our 
solicitors,  or  our  sovereign.  We  tempt  Providence  and 
challenge  consequences. 

From   the   Temple,    with   its   man-made   pinnacle. 


142  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

our  Lord  proceeded  to  the  mountain  where — no 
longer  an  ecclesiastical  Christ  but  the  Christ  that 
is  universal — He  surveyed  the  world.  What  Satan 
showed  Him  was  the  kingdoms  and  their  glory;  what 
He  saw  was  the  sin  and  suffering  to  which  Satan  was 
indifferent.  More  than  once  we  read  how  He  looked 
on  the  multitudes  and  was  moved  with  compassion, 
because  they  were  as  sheep  not  having  a  shepherd. 
It  was  the  world  that  God  loved  so  intensely  as  to 
send  into  it  His  only  begotten  Son;  and  to  corrupt 
our  Lord's  ambition  to  save  the  perishing  was  the 
last  endeavor  of  the  Devil.  In  casting  oneself  down 
there  was  danger.  But  to  fall  down  and  worship, 
what  could  be  simpler?  A  little  bribery  on  polling- 
day,  a  touch  of  insincerity  in  a  peroration,  a  hint  of 
sharp  practice  in  business,  a  compromise  of  prin- 
ciples, a  word  of  flattery  to  the  influential,  some 
innocent  wire-pulling — we  all  know  these  genuflections 
to  the  Evil  One,  who  boldly  claims  that  kingdoms 
are  given  to  him,  and  are  thus  his  to  give  away. 
We  who  compose  society,  by  our  selfishness  and  sub- 
servience constantly  surrender  our  institutions,  until 
they  belong  neither  to  us  nor  to  God.  It  is  not  only 
on  the  coast-line  of  Africa  that  the  spirit  of  evil  is 
worshiped. 

Worship  First. 

Surely,  it  might  be  argued,  if  the  end  were  salva- 
tion, the  means  would  be  forgiven.  Think  what  an 
Emperor  we  would  have  had  in  the  Lord  Jesus — what 
abuses  He  would  have  swept  away,  what  tyrannies  He 
would  have  broken  down,  what  oppression  He  would 
have  relieved !  He  was  asked  to  choose  right  service 
by  the  aid  of  wrong  worship;  and,  without  an  instant 


HE  LEAVES  THE  WILDERNESS         143 

of  hesitation,  He  set  worship  first.  It  is  not  what 
a  man  does  that  matters,  but  why  he  does  it,  and  how 
he  does  it;  the  means  are  more  than  the  end;  nor 
is  there  any  service  of  men  which  is  not,  first,  a  service 
of  God.  The  Httle  maid  who  bore  her  witness  was 
nobler  far  than  Naaman,  the  Prime  Minister,  who  was 
healed,  only  to  bow  himself  once  more  in  the  house 
of  Rimmon.  And  the  sinful  woman  breaking  her 
alabaster  box  upon  the  feet  of  the  Christ  was  nearer 
the  truth  of  things  than  Judas,  who  wanted  those  two 
hundred  pennies  for  the  poor.  Joseph  was  sold  for 
twenty  pieces  of  money.  Achan  turned  traitor  for  a 
wedge  of  gold  and  a  Babylonish  garment.  Elisha's 
servant  hankered  after  a  few  talents,  and  Judas  sold 
his  Master  'for  thirty  shekels.  But  Christ,  in  the 
temptation  in  the  wilderness,  would  not  exchange  the 
whole  world  for  His  own  soul.  And  for  that  soul  it 
was  the  world  that  Satan  offered. 


XX 

THE  SAVIOUR  AND  THE  MULTITUDE 

Sought  by  all  Classes — Popularity  and  Success — "Many"  and 
"  Few." 

A  JOURNALIST,  writing  in  the  style  of  the 
newspapers  of  to-day,  would  have  said  that 
our  Lord's  mission  among  men  w^as  an  immediate 
success.  Within  a  few  weeks  He  became  unchal- 
lengeably  the  most  prominent  Personage  in  the  land. 
Wherever  He  went,  a  multitude  followed,  drawn 
from  Galilee,  with  its  industries;  from  the  wilder 
and  remoter  Decapolis;  from  royal  Judea  and  ancient 
Jerusalem;  from  the  regions  beyond  Jordan;  and 
even  from  Tyre  and  Sidon.  When  He  entered  Nain, 
the  crowd  was  there.  At  Jericho  they  thronged  upon 
Him,  If  He  crossed  the  lake,  the  people  took  boats 
after  Him,  or  ran  together  from  all  cities  on  foot  to 
meet  Him,  At  the  base  of  the  mountain  where  He 
was  transfigured,  thousands  waited  for  Him,  "  All 
men  seek  for  Thee,"  said  Simon  Peter,  as  He  pro- 
ceeded to  the  "  next  towns," 

In  weighing  apparent  discrepancies  in  the  narra- 
tives, we  should  bear  in  mind  the  hurry — the  excite- 
ment— the  Oriental  eagerness,  of  which  He  was  the 
center.     To  describe  one  of  His  days  would  be  like 

144 


THE  SAVIOUR  AND  THE  MULTITUDE     145 

analyzing  the  movements  of  an  avalanche.  Even  the 
inspired  pens  of  the  Evangelists  left  that  task  un- 
achieved and  unattempted.  They  laid  their  sick  in  the 
market-places  where  He  healed  them.  They  sought 
even  .to  touch  the  hem  of  His  garment,  and  were  thus 
made  whole.  They  gave  Him  no  leisure,  not  so  much 
as  to  eat,  invading  the  very  house  where  He  was  tak- 
ing His  meals,  so  that  there  was  no  room,  not  even  by 
the  door;  and,  in  those  breathless  days,  He  was  often 
an  hungered,  as  when  He  sought  fruit  from  the  barren 
fig-tree,  beneath  the  walls  of  Jerusalem.  We  read 
how  He  sat,  weary,  by  the  well  of  Samaria,  while  His 
friends  brought  Him  food;  how,  on  one  of  their  little 
voyages  in  an  open  boat,  their  supplies  were  inad- 
vertently reduced  to  one  loaf;  how,  on  the  Sabbath, 
His  disciples  picked  corn,  as  they  walked  along, 
rubbing  the  grain  in  their  hands,  and  so  fed  them- 
selves. It  seemed  as  if,  in  that  strenuous  career, 
there  was  not  one  moment  to  be  wasted ;  and  in  telling 
the  story,  St.  Mark's  favorite  word  is  "  immediately." 
Where  John  the  Baptist  stayed  by  the  Jordan  and 
spoke  to  those  who  came  to  him,  Jesus  walked  abroad, 
searching  the  highways  and  the  hedges  for  those  He 
came  to  save. 

Sought  by  all  Classes. 

Important  persons  sought  our  Saviour's  acquaint- 
ance. There  was  the  king's  officer  at  Capernaum, 
w^hose  son  was  healed.  There  was  the  centurion,  who 
pleaded  for  the  life  of  his  servant.  There  was  Nico- 
demus,  a  (so  to  say)  Member  of  Congress,  who  came 
to  Him  secretly  by  night.  There  was  Jairus,  the  ruler 
of  the  synagogue,  broken-hearted  over  his  daughter's 
death.      Wealthy    tax-gatherers,    like    Matthew    and 


146  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

Zacchaeus,  prepared  great  banquets  for  Him.  Fash- 
ionable ladies,  like  Joanna,  the  wife  of  Chuza,  Herod's 
steward,  and  Susanna,  ministered  unto  Him  of  their 
substance.  At  Bethany,  His  home  was  with  Lazarus, 
and  the  sisters  Martha  and  Mary,  whom  He  loved 
dearly;  while  at  the  house  of  Simon  the  Leper,  hard 
by — another  friend  in  comfortable  circumstances — He 
was  entertained  to  a  dinner,  at  which  Mary  of  Bethany 
broke  her  alabaster  box  of  ointment,  very  precious, 
over  His  feet.  In  the  Sanhedrin  itself — a  legislature 
which  combined  the  functions  of  Convocation  and 
Commons — His  credentials  were  discussed,  while 
Antipas,  the  tetrarch,  frequently  asked  about  Him, 
and  offered  an  audience.  With  the  children,  He  was 
— forgive  the  familiar  term — an  especial  favorite. 
Mothers  brought  them  to  receive  His  blessing.  They 
were  constantly  present  while  He  taught,  and  never 
found  His  words  dull.  Following  Him  on  the  moun- 
tains, they  walked  miles,  or  were  carried,  until  He 
had  to  find  food  for  them,  lest  they  and  their  mothers 
should  faint  on  the  way.  When  He  entered  Jerusalem 
on  His  last  visit,  they  were  His  chief  retinue  and  body- 
guard— His  Boy  Scouts  and  Camp  Fire  Girls.  What 
hurt  Him  most  when  He  thought  of  that  city's  doom 
was  the  anguish  of  the  mothers  as  they  clasped  their 
babes  to  their  breasts  amid  the  tumult  of  war. 

Some  of  us  are  habitually  behind  the  times.  We 
yearn  for  the  lost  happiness  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
or  the  noble  yet  vanished  institutions  of  Greece  and 
Rome.  Others  of  us  are  in  advance  of  the  times. 
Before  we  can  do  good,  we  must  have  Socialism  and 
Disarmament,  and  some  other  remote  system.  Christ 
did  not  despise  either  History,  which  deals  with  the 
past,  or  Prophecy,  which  reveals  the  future.     On  the 


THE  SAVIOUR  AND  THE  MULTITUDE    147 

road  to  Emmaus,  He  so  talked  about  the  traditions 
of  His  race  as  to  fire  the  hearts  of  the  two  disciples 
with  a  noble  enthusiasm.  And  He  alone  foresaw  the 
fearful  destiny  of  Jerusalem.  But  He  had  the  courage 
to  handle  the  Present.  The  time,  He  said,  is  now 
fulfilled.  Look,  He  would  exclaim,  the  fields  are 
already  white  unto  the  harvest.  Every  moment  was 
for  Him  "  the  psychological  moment."  Every  utter- 
ance was  an  eternal  utterance.  The  people  were 
amazed  by  His  miracles.  But  they  were  not  less 
astonished  by  His  words,  which  were  as  wonderful 
as  His  works.  It  was  a  conversation  that  captured 
Nathanael,  and  another  that  won  the  Samaritans. 
He  spoke  with  an  authority  of  His  own,  not  derived 
from  others,  and  He  also  spoke  with  grace,  or,  as  we 
should  say,  with  tact,  courtesy,  sympathy.  His  was 
a  voice  so  gentle  that  it  soothed  the  sick,  yet  so 
resonant  that  it  sounded  forth  above  the  storms  at 
sea — above  the  roar  of  gossip  in  the  Temple,  above 
the  tumults  around  the  Cross.  The  multitudes  on  the 
mountain  could  hear  His  every  syllable,  and  He  could 
speak  with  ease  from  a  boat  to  the  crowds  that  lined 
the  beach.  The  very  tomb  did  not  exclude  those  com- 
manding tones,  for  Lazarus,  in  his  grave-clothes,  was 
awakened  and  came  forth. 

The  reason  why  the  common  people  heard  Him  so 
gladly  was  that  He  always  respected  His  audience. 
Because  they  were  ignorant  and  diseased  and  sinful, 
He  gave  them  the  best.  When  publicans  and  sinners 
came  to  hear  Him,  the  sight  of  the  Pharisees,  those 
hard  and  unloving  critics,  moved  Him  to  utter  the 
three  unforgettable  illustrations  of  the  infinite  sacred- 
ness  of  human  life — the  one  lost  sheep  in  a  hundred; 
the  one  lost  coin  in  ten;  the  one  lost  son  out  of  only 


148  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

two.  Nor  were  the  people  irresponsive.  When  the 
scribes  and  Pharisees  plotted  with  the  Herodians 
against  the  Saviour,  they  were  constantly  restrained 
by  public  opinion.  When  they  would  have  seized  Him, 
they  feared  the  multitude.  And  His  arrest,  when  at 
last  it  was  achieved,  was  the  result  of  a  betrayal, 
masked  by  the  darkness  of  the  night. 

Popularity  and  Success. 

Jesus  was  not  indifferent  to  popularity.  On  the 
contrary,  He  analyzed  and  judged  it.  When  His 
seventy  evangelists  returned,  and  in  exultant  language 
told  Him  of  their  triumphs  over  evil,  His  eye  flashed 
with  the  vision  of  His  enemy,  Satan,  falling  into  im- 
potence. It  was  as  if  His  joy  in  His  own  work  is  less 
than  His  satisfaction  of  soul  when  "  greater  things  " 
are  achieved  by  those  whom  He  died  to  save.  When 
the  Greeks  came  to  Him,  it  seemed  as  if,  for  the  second 
time.  He  saw  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  laid  at  His 
feet,  with  the  glory  of  them — a  glory  that  He  could 
now  claim,  because  it  came  to  Him  rightly,  through 
His  Father,  and  not  through  the  Devil,  and  would 
come  again  and  yet  again,  as  the  centuries  rolled  on. 
One  reason  why  He  was  beloved  lay  in  the  thorough- 
ness of  His  methods.  Like  the  good  shepherd.  He 
sought  until  He  found.  There  were  many  countries 
richer  and  of  greater  political  prestige  than  the  Holy 
Land,  but  Jesus  did  not  go  abroad  once,  save  as  a  babe 
to  Egypt;  and  when  near  the  frontier  He  encountered 
a  Syro-Phoenician  woman,  He  told  her  truly,  yet 
almost  ruthlessly,  that  He  was  not  sent  except  to  the 
lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel.  We  do  not  know  how 
often  He  trod  those  narrow  highways.  Many  towns, 
like  Capernaum  and  Bethsaida,  He  visited  over  and 


THE  SAVIOUR  AND  THE  MULTITUDE     149 

over  again.  He  did  not  desire  that  people  should  be 
content  with  a  mere  glimpse  of  Him,  but  offered  Him- 
self to  them  wholly,  frequently,  patiently,  as  an  ever- 
accessible  Friend — a  Neighbor;  not  an  author  to  be 
read  and  put  aside,  but  the  Author  and  Finisher  of 
our  faith.  He  had  no  need  to  complain  that  His  op- 
portunities were  restricted,  for  with  Him  every  oppor- 
tunity was,  as  it  were,  enough.  His  movement  fol- 
lowed natural  law;  it  spread  as  leaven  spreads;  it 
grew  as  a  seed  grows:  first  Jerusalem,  then  Samaria, 
then  Galilee,  and  so  on,  to  the  uttermost  ends  of  the 
earth.  It  was  the  strategy  of  that  Master-brain  whence 
were  devised  the  concentric  waves  on  the  surface  of  a 
pool  into  which  a  stone  has  fallen  from  heaven. 

Yet  the  outward  success  of  His  work  was  in  many 
ways  a  hindrance  to  Him.  The  crowds  were  selfish 
in  their  very  admiration.  The  four  stretcher-bearers, 
who  brought  a  paralytic  to  Him,  as  He  sat  in  a  house, 
were  nearer  His  kingdom  than  the  strong  and  healthy 
people  in  the  congregation  who  refused  to  make  way 
for  their  afflicted  patient.  On  another  occasion  that 
same  multitude  did  not  respect  His  own  mother's 
desire  to  speak  to  Him.  Zacchseus  was  anxious  not 
only  to  see  Jesus  as  He  passed,  but  to  make  Him 
welcome  in  his  house,  and  introduce  Him  to  his 
friends;  yet  Zacchseus  also  was  thrust  back  from  the 
pavement  by  the  very  folk  who  could  have  easily  seen 
over  his  head.  They  who  accompanied  Him  in  pro- 
cession through  Jericho  did  their  utmost  to  silence  the 
cries  of  blind  Bartimseus,  until  He  commanded  the 
man  to  be  brought, — note  the  strength  of  that  word 
command, — and  it  was  only  His  authority  thus  ex- 
pressed that  changed  their  contempt  for  the  beggar 
into  sympathy.     The  people  who  seemed  to  be  most 


150  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

attentive  to  the  Master  were  sometimes  farthest  from 
Him,  and  as  we  think  of  those  scribes  and  Pharisees 
grumbhng  against  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  we  reahze 
what  He  meant  when  He  said  that  many  would  call 
Him  *'  Lord,  Lord  "  whom  He  never  knew,  save  as 
workers  of  iniquity. 

"  Many  "  and  "  Few." 

There  were  so  many  who  saw  Him  and  knew  about 
Him;  there  were  so  few  who  followed  Him — so  many 
called,  so  few  chosen.  That  was  why  He  spoke  so 
earnestly  of  the  broad  road,  where  everyone  walks, 
and  the  strait  gate,  which  is  so  seldom  discovered. 
Ten  lepers  were  healed,  as  to-day  tens  of  millions  are 
blessed  by  the  material  benefits  of  the  true  faith;  one 
only  returned  to  the  Redeemer  Himself,  as  a  grateful 
worshiper.  Yet  He  did  not  desire  a  testimonial,  for 
when  first  He  cleansed  a  leper  He  did  it,  as  it  were, 
confidentially,  and  thought  only  of  the  man  visiting 
the  priest  and  regaining  his  place  in  society.  It  was 
not  "  the  cause "  that  absorbed  His  affection.  He 
was  ever  seeking  the  individual — taking  a  dumb  man, 
as  at  Jericho,  away  by  himself,  or  a  blind  man,  as 
at  Jerusalem;  and,  gradually,  by  symbols  of  His 
own  devising,  evoking  love  and  faith  from  the  isolated 
heart,  until  ear  heard,  eye  saw,  tongue  spoke.  Of  His 
words,  all  of  them  divine,  few  have  been  reported  and 
published.  His  aim  was  rather,  and  still  is,  to  speak 
to  people  quietly,  so  that  no  one  else  can  hear — to 
make  Himself,  not  so  much  a  public  man,  as  a  par- 
ticular and  intimate  Friend,  "  who  sticketh  closer  than 
a  brother,"  "  nearer  than  hands  and  feet." 

But,  as  all  seemed  to  be  going  so  well,  there  came  a 
check  and  a  crisis  in  His  career.     When  the  people 


THE  SAVIOUR  AND  THE  MULTITUDE     151 

desired  to  make  Him  a  king,  He  withdrew  Himself, 
not  refusing  the  honor,  for  it  belonged  to  Him  by 
right,  but  suggesting  an  immeasurable  distance  be- 
tween their  ideas  and  His.  To  them  kingship  was 
based  upon  "  Panem  and  Circenses  " — the  bread  which 
satisfies  the  body,  the  miracle  which  fascinates  the  eye. 
Jesus  truly  fed  them,  He  truly  healed  them;  but  by 
leaving  them  for  awhile  He  tested  their  allegiance, 
and  found  it  wanting.  What  they  offered  was  a 
throne  outside  of  themselves.  What  He  demanded 
was  the  throne  within.  Where  Moses  led  twelve  tribes 
to  the  Promised  Land,  He  chose  for  the  Kingdom 
twelve  apostles,  of  whom  three  were  especially  inti- 
mate. To  teach  great  crowds  was  not  enough.  He 
must,  as  it  were,  get  inside  the  human  heart,  and  expel 
the  evil  by  His  presence  there.  He  must  be  the  very 
Bread  and  Wine  which  sustain  His  people's  souls.  He 
must  give  His  flesh  for  their  hearts'  food.  He  must 
come  to  them  and  sup  with  them,  and  they  with  Him, 
until  they  and  He  are  one,  as  He  is  one  with  His 
Father,  So  He  spoke,  and  the  message  destroyed  His 
"  popularity."  When  He  was  seized  in  the  garden,  the 
multitude,  who  had  been  taught  and  healed,  came  with 
swords  and  staves.  And  His  few  remaining  friends 
all  forsook  Him  and  fled. 


XXI 

THE  JUDGE  ON  HIS  THRONE 
The  Mountains  of  Scripture — The  Legislation  of  Christ. 

WHAT  we  call  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  is 
misunderstood  because  it  is  misnamed.  It  was 
not  a  sermon,  preached  from  a  pulpit  to  religious 
people;  but  an  edict  or  ukase,  promulgated  for  all 
His  subjects,  by  a  Sovereign  seated  on  a  throne  of 
His  own  choosing — not  designed  by  men,  but  one  of 
the  eternal  hills.  He  did  not  consult  the  Emperor, 
or  the  Church,  or  the  Sanhedrin,  or  the  Parliament, 
or  the  Electors,  but  spoke  with  sole  and  personal 
authority — "  I  say  unto  you."  And  His  law  was 
delivered  in  terms  as  clear  and  as  challenging  as  the 
commands  of  Moses  or  the  Code  Napoleon. 

Moses  legislated  as  a  minister  of  state,  who  trans- 
mits the  will  of  a  Greater  than  himself.  It  was  from 
Another  that  he  received  the  tables  of  stone.  But 
Jesus,  in  His  own  royal  Person,  wrote  His  law  upon 
the  living  tablets  of  men's  hearts,  with  a  hand  as  yet 
unpierced  by  the  rebels  who  afterwards  rejected  Him. 
As  He  was  in  all  points  tempted  as  we  are,  so,  unlike 
the  lawyers  of  Jerusalem,  He  laid  no  burden  of 
obligation  on  others  which  He  had  not  Himself  first 
lifted.     He  commanded  only  where  He  had — in  that 

153 


THE  JUDGE  ON  HIS  THRONE  153 

amazing  phrase — "  learned  obedience."  And  when 
He  told  us  to  be  perfect,  as  our  Father  is  perfect,  He 
set  the  very  standard  to  which  He  had  attained  as 
the  Beloved  Son,  in  whom  God  was  "  well  pleased." 
He  was  thus  the  last  and  greatest  of  the  Judges, 
summing  up  for  all  time  the  long  Jewish  tradition  of 
righteousness. 

Matthew  tells  us  that  our  Lord,  seeing  the  multi- 
tudes, ascended  a  mountain  and  taught.  Luke  adds 
that  He  selected  one  of  those  level  places  which  are  to 
be  found  in  every  such  upland.  On  that  level  place, 
as  by"  the  seashore,  men  and  women,  old  and  young, 
courtiers,  merchants  and  artisans,  all  stood  side  by 
side,  with  no  privilege  save  His  presence.  In  His 
synagogue  there  are  no  chief  seats.  In  His  banquet- 
ing house  of  love  there  are  many  mansions,  but  no 
uppermost  rooms.  He  condemned  the  assumption  of 
titles.  "  One  is  your  Master,"  He  said,  "  and  all  ye 
are  brethren."  He  founded  no  caste.  He  wore  and 
He  authorized  no  special  costume;  and  vestments,  as 
displayed  to-day,  though  we  regard  them  as  eccle- 
siastical and  sacred,  are  often  the  survival  of  the 
common  clothes  which  were  good  enough  for  the 
earliest  Christians. 

The  Mountains  of  Scripture. 

Yet  the  level  place  was  not  in  a  valley,  bounded 
by  Nature,  or  a  street,  confined  by  art,  and  home, 
and  commerce,  and  pleasures,  and  politics,  and 
temples.  It  was  on  a  mountain,  and  the  mountains 
of  the  Bible  are  not  without  meaning.  It  was  on  a 
mountain  that  Abraham  was  ready  to  sacrifice  his 
only  son.  It  was  on  a  mountain  that  Moses  received 
the  law  from  God;  and  Elijah,  the  fire.     It  was  on 


154  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

a  mountain  that  our  Lord  was  tempted,  that  He 
taught,  and  prayed,  and  was  transfigured,  and 
suffered;  from  a  mountain,  He  ascended  to  heaven. 
All  the  supreme  events  of  His  life  were  thus  lofty 
and  universal.  As  He  spoke.  He  could  look  north, 
south,  east,  and  west,  and  no  obstacle  interrupted 
His  view.  However  profoundly  climates  may  modify 
the  character  of  races  in  every  zone.  His  law,  His 
glory,  His  redeeming  sacrifice  are  the  same.  The 
air  of  the  mountain  was  untainted  either  by  the  breath 
of  man  or  by  the  fumes  of  industry.  If  a  cloud  came 
there,  it  was  not  smoke  or  fog,  but  the  glowing  gar- 
ment of  the  love  of  God.  On  that  mountain  there 
was  no  roar  of  traffic;  and  if  in  the  stillness  the  people 
did  not  hear,  it  was  because  they  were  deaf.  His 
teaching  applied  to  every  circumstance,  and  tran- 
scended all  environment.  His  word  was  a  direct  mes- 
sage to  every  nation,  at  every  period. 

When  Moses  received  the  Law,  he  climbed  the 
mountain  alone,  and  there  were  thunderings  and 
lightnings.  Jesus  encouraged  the  people  to  follow 
Him,  as  if  He  knew  that  they  could  best  keep  the 
Law  when  in  His  company.  That  reads  as  if  it  were 
simple;  yet  it  was  not  so,  for  many  of  the  people 
were  too  lame  to  climb  with  Him,  too  deaf  to  hear 
His  voice,  too  blind  to  see  His  face.  His  teaching 
was  not  enough  without  His  miracles.  God  is  not 
only  Truth,  but  Power;  so  that,  throughout  our 
Lord's  career,  we  have  the  word  and  the  work  in 
close  alliance,  each  inseparable  from  the  other.  I  say 
this  with  emphasis,  because  there  is  often  a  complete 
misapprehension  of  the  scope  of  this  "  sermon." 
People  think  that  it  contains  the  Gospel  of  salvation, 
and  is,  therefore,  the  essence  of  Christianity.     I  ven- 


THE  JUDGE  ON  HIS  THRONE     155 

ture  to  assert  that  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  did 
not  save  one  person  who  heard  it!  We  read  therein 
not  what  we  can  be,  but  what  we  should  be,  and  the 
question  how  we  are  to  be  what  we  ought  to  be  is 
left  deliberately  unanswered.  It  was  just  because 
Christ's  law  was  unattainable  that  His  Redemption 
had  to  be  freely  accessible  to  everyone. 

The  Legislation  of  Christ. 

The  judgment-seat  of  Moses  determined  in  the 
main  our  acts.  Men  were  to  be  good  to  their  parents, 
to  keep  the  Sabbath,  to  refrain  from  murder  and  theft 
and  other  offenses,  to  give  a  tenth  to  the  community, 
to  attend  Divine  worship,  and  so  on.  Jesus  legislated 
for  a  glance  of  the  eye,  a  contemptuous  thought,  an 
angry  word.  Before  His  judgment-seat  prayer  was 
not  enough,  and  fasting  was  not  enough,  and  alms- 
giving was  not  enough.  He  asked  why  men  prayed 
and  fasted  and  gave  alms.  With  Him  the  motive, 
being  of  the  heart,  was  everything.  If  we  seek  reward 
from  men,  we  lose  reward  from  God.  Whatever 
good  thing  we  do  should  be  secret  and  confidential. 
We  should  conceal  it,  not  from  others  merely,  but 
from  ourselves.  The  left  hand  must  not  know  what 
the  right  hand  doeth.  Omniscience  alone  must  detect 
the  good  things  we  do.  It  was  His  own  rule.  We 
know  that  Jesus  arranged  with  Judas  for  gifts  to  be 
made  to  the  poor.  On  no  single  occasion  was  His 
benevolence  seen  of  men.  We  know  that,  in  the 
wilderness,  He  fasted.  But  there  was  not  one  witness. 
We  know  that  He  devoted  much  time  to  prayer. 
And  here  again  it  was  His  custom  to  be  alone,  and 
for  a  disciple  to  be  admitted  to  that  intimacy  was 
a  rare  and  valued  privilege.    The  blatancy  of  bazaars, 


156  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

the  parade  of  patriotic  economy  and  spectacular  in- 
tercession— all  this  would  have  disappointed  Him. 
He  wanted  goodness  to  be  a  gift  for  God  alone. 

The  old  law  was  enforced  by  terrible  punishments, 
like  stoning  or  stripes,  inflicted  by  man  on  man, 
which  deterrents  still  enshadow  our  criminal  system. 
Sinai  was  a  mountain  of  thunder  and  lightning. 
Where  Jesus  spoke,  whether  on  the  upland  or  on  the 
lake,  there  was  no  storm,  but  the  peace  of  which  He 
is  the  Prince.  He  would  win  us  to  goodness  by  per- 
suasion. He  does  not  need  to  institute  a  trial  or  call 
evidence,  to  guide  Him  in  His  verdict.  His  omnis- 
cience is  instant.  "  Go,  call  thy  husband,"  said  He  to 
the  woman  of  Samaria,  and  she  pleaded  guilty.  "  Go, 
sell  all  thou  hast  and  give  to  the  poor,"  was  His  an- 
swer to  the  rich  man,  whose  self-righteousness  with- 
ered into  sorrow.  Nor  does  He  require  a  policeman, 
or  prosecutor,  or  warder,  with  whose  help  to  punish 
disobedience.  On  the  contrary,  He  mistrusted  the 
sentences  pronounced  by  the  State.  He  saw  that 
good  men  are  often  wrongly  accused  and  despitefully 
treated,  while  yet  remaining  happy,  and  indeed  joyful, 
since  to  rejoice  and  be  glad  is  happiness  revealed.  His 
sentence  is  thus  independent  of  public  opinion.  It  is 
blessing  on  the  one  hand,  woe  on  the  other — a  reward 
and  a  punishment,  not  of  the  body,  but  of  the  soul. 

The  only  evidence  that  He  admitted  was  of  char- 
acter. He  did  not  ask  a  man's  age,  or  nationality,  or 
where  he  had  been  educated,  or  what  income  he  re- 
ceives, or  what  is  his  social  status,  or  trade,  or  profes- 
sion. The  questions  on  His  registration  forms  were 
these:  Is  this  person  meek?  and  poor  in  spirit?  a 
mourner  ?  a  peace-maker  ?  These  are  the  people  whom 
He  declared  to  be  "  blessed."    The  Beatitudes  that  so 


THE  JUDGE  ON  HIS  THRONE    157 

deal  with  character  are  seven;  one  only,  and  this  the 
last,  is  sufficient  for  circumstances. 

About  our  Lord's  judgments  there  is  thus  a  large 
and  inevitable  range  from  which  not  one  of  us  can 
escape.  To  penal  servitude  or  imprisonment  with 
hard  labor  there  is  set  a  term  of  years,  limited  by 
the  span  of  this  mortal  life.  But  the  happiness  or 
misery  of  our  souls  is  not  bounded  by  time,  being 
eternal  as  the  soul  itself;  nor  is  there  any  tribunal, 
whether  of  Church  or  State,  that  can  grant  reprieve 
or  deny  the  benediction. 


XXII 

WHAT  HIS  TRUTH  COSTS 

Teacher  and  Pupils — Keeping  Pace  with  the  Redeemer. 

IMPORTANT  as  are  the  perplexities  of  scholars, 
what  concerns  us  most  is  the  indifference,  the 
discouragement  of  common  folk,  who  once  heard  the 
Saviour  so  gladly.  His  teaching  sometimes  seems  so 
impracticable,  and  we  ask  why  His  miracles  have 
ceased.  And  so,  to  our  great  loss,  we  leave  Him 
alone,  and  do  not  come  to  Him  that  we  might  have 
life;  while  we  are  too  hurried,  too  careless,  to  re- 
member that  what  happens  to  us  is  only  what  hap- 
pened to  people  like  ourselves,  in  Judea  and  Galilee. 
The  "  modern  "  problem,  as  it  is  called,  is  really  as 
ancient — as  eternal — as  the  Gospel  itself.  Sometimes 
our  Lord  asked  whether  His  very  Apostles  would  not 
leave  Him.  "  Will  ye  also  go  away  ? "  was  His 
testing  inquiry  of  the  Twelve;  and  Peter's  answer 
rings  out  as  pertinent  as  if  it  were  printed  in  yester- 
day's newspaper.  "To  whom  shall  we  go?"  Sup- 
pose that  we  assume  our  Lord's  message  to  be  a  fail- 
ure. Who  else  is  there  whose  words  mean  life? 
There  is  no  other. 

He  did  not  say  that  His  teaching  would  be  easy. 
He  knew  that  the  best  of  us  would  not  grasp  His 

168 


WHAT  HIS  TRUTH  COSTS  159 

meaning  all  at  once,  still  less  obey  it.  For  this  reason 
He  wants  us  to  listen,  even  when  we  do  not  under- 
stand. And  He  spoke  in  parables,  because  these 
stories  cling  to  the  mind,  and  so  renew  their  offer  of 
an  inner  truth  not  at  first  appreciated.  In  the  whole 
range  of  literature  there  are  no  passages  so  familiar 
as  these  parables.  Yet  we  are  still  discovering  the 
fullness  of  their  meaning.  And,  after  all,  what  are 
our  commentaries  and  text-books  compared  with  these 
original  treasures?  The  parables  are  creative,  the 
criticism  is  parasitic. 

Teacher  and  Pupils. 

We  think  that  we  can  master  the  wisdom  of  Christ 
in  an  hour  or  two.  He  found  that  after  training  His 
disciples  daily  for  years  there  were  many  things  still 
to  be  said  which  they  could  not  bear  to  hear.  Philip 
was  one  of  His  closest  friends,  but  even  Philip  did  not 
understand  in  what  sense  Jesus  reveals  to  us  our 
Father  in  heaven.  John  the  Baptist  himself  had  his 
misgivings,  while  the  scribes  and  Pharisees  constantly 
stumbled  at  His  doctrine.  We  see  the  men  who  were 
to  organize  the  Christian  Church  quarreling  among 
themselves  who  should  be  the  greatest;  ready  to  call 
down  fire  on  some  incredulous  Samaritan  village;  for- 
bidding the  good  work  of  others  who  cast  out  devils 
in  Christ's  name  without  following  the  apostolical  suc- 
cession; demanding  high  office  in  the  new  kingdom; 
driving  away  the  children  from  His  very  knees. 

We  see  these  men  in  terror  at  a  storm,  helpless 
before  a  demoniac  boy,  asleep  during  His  agony,  in 
hiding  during  His  crucifixion.  He  had  to  teach  these 
men  to  be  as  humble  as  a  child;  to  share  His  spirit, 
which  seeks  only  to  save;  to  recognize  His  power 


160  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

where  good  is  done;  to  measure  honor  by  sacrifice, 
to  respect  the  sacredness  of  the  young;  to  be  brave 
in  danger,  strong  in  the  fight  against  evil;  watchful 
of  temptation;  to  be  witnesses,  not  fugitives,  when 
He  was  attacked.  And  if  as  a  Teacher  He  was  thus 
patient,  is  it  much  to  ask  of  us  that  we  be  equally 
patient  as  His  pupils? 

In  ignoring  or  criticizing  or  resisting  Christ's  in- 
struction, we  assume  that  we  are  judicial  persons,  sit- 
ting as  jurors,  who  are  detached  from  the  issues 
involved,  whereas  in  reality  we  are  the  parties  to  the 
case.  In  every  inquiry  that  we  make,  in  every  manu- 
script that  we  dissect,  in  every  doubt  that  we  raise,  we 
are  litigants,  claiming  exemption  for  our  money  and 
our  lives.  The  only  real  question  is  whether  we  will 
or  will  not  have  this  Man  to  rule  over  us.  He  is  not 
satisfied  with  the  righteousness — let  alone  the  scholar- 
ship— of  the  library  and  the  university;  far  from  it. 
For  His  claims  could  not  well  be  more  exacting.  The 
eager  man,  who  is  ready  to  follow  wherever  he  is  led, 
must  understand  clearly  that  the  foxes  have  holes  and 
the  birds  of  the  air  have  nests — there  is  comfort  and 
there  is  safety  for  the  worldly  wise — but  the  Son  of 
Man,  a  Captain  who  ever  bivouacs  with  His  soldiers, 
hath  not  where  to  lay  His  head. 

Keeping  Pace  with  the  Redeemer. 

The  stickler  for  etiquette,  who  wishes  first  to  bury 
his  father,  must  recognize,  on  his  side,  that  funerals 
are  not  to  impede  the  great  advance :  "  Let  the  dead 
bury  their  dead."  His  duty  is  to  follow  the  Master. 
The  courteous  man,  who  spends  all  his  time  answering 
letters  and  fulfilling  the  amenities  of  polite  society — 
who  is  well  known  at  the  Club  and  fond  of  compli- 


WHAT  HIS  TRUTH  COSTS  161 

mentary  banquets — must  cease  from  his  salutations 
by  the  way.  The  family  man,  with  wife  and  children 
to  support,  must  be  ready  to  sacrifice  for  the  Cross 
all  that  brave  men  sacrifice  for  their  country.  Having 
once  enlisted,  he  must  not  look  back.  His  hand  is 
on  the  plow.  And,  finally,  the  man  of  property,  who 
from  his  youth  upwards  has  kept  the  Commandments, 
must  sell  all  he  has  and  give  it  to  the  poor,  if  he  is 
to  keep  pace  with  the  Redeemer.  Simple  for  such  a 
man  to  enter  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven!  Indeed,  no. 
A  camel,  unloaded  of  its  burdens,  might  as  easily  pass 
through  the  eye  of  a  needle. 

Even  His  most  loyal  friends  were  staggered  by 
this  demand  on  their  very  beings.  "  Who,"  they 
asked,  "  can  be  saved  ? "  And,  in  replying.  He  did 
not  compromise.  He  agreed  that,  with  men,  such 
consecration  of  "  all  we  have  and  are  "  is  impossible. 
But  He  added  that  with  God  nothing  is  impossible. 
Many  men  and  women  have,  in  fact,  given  up  what 
He  asked,  and  have  thus  discovered  what  He  meant 
when  He  promised  happiness  to  those  who,  instead  of 
finding  offense  in  His  words,  obeyed  them. 

On  the  application  of  these  "  hard  sayings,"  I  may 
write  something  a  little  later.  For  the  moment  I 
confine  myself  strictly  to  the  one  point,  that  their 
difficulty,  as  it  confronts  us,  is  nothing  new  or  un- 
foreseen. And  despite  their  difficulty,  the  sayings 
still  challenge  us,  and  cannot  be  disposed  of.  With 
heaven  and  earth  still  here,  not  one  syllable  of  His 
has,  in  fact,  passed  away.  Before  we  decide  that  His 
teaching  is  untrue,  we  would  do  well  to  make  sure  that 
we  hear  Him  correctly.  He  Himself  was  profoundly 
distrustful  of  our  oral  faculty.  Some  of  us,  like  stony 
ground,   seemed   to   Him   hard   and   shallow,    ready 


162  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

enough  to  say  "  Yes  "  to  the  Gospel  when  our  sur- 
roundings are  favorable  to  it;  but  withering  away 
when  the  same  surroundings,  like  the  sun,  exhaust  us 
with  the  heat  which  was  once  our  stimulus.  Others 
are  like  a  field  of  thorns,  choked  by  the  world  that  is 
too  much  with  us,  and  only  a  few  offer  good  ground 
for  the  eternal  seed.  Even  on  that  good  ground  there 
is  the  Devil,  who  removes  the  seed,  or  sows  tares,  not 
in  broad  daylight — you  do  not  read  of  it  in  theological 
treatises,  or  find  mention  of  him  in  discussions  about 
empty  churches — but  at  night;  so  that  what  our 
Lord  once  said  has  to  compete  with  the  weeds  of 
civilization,  an  often  frivolous  Press,  an  often  regret- 
table drama,  the  race  course,  the  deluge  of  fiction,  the 
plague  of  portraiture.  People  have  tried  in  vain  to 
uproot  the  tares.  Roman  Catholics  and  Protestants 
have,  each  in  turn,  applied  their  expurgatorial  censor- 
ship. But  our  Lord  has  advised  us  to  allow  the  good 
and  the  bad  to  grow  up  together — you  cannot  destroy 
the  one  without  imperiling  the  other — and  each  must 
fight  the  other.  Not  until  the  end  of  our  age  shall 
error  be  sifted  completely  from  truth,  and  truth  be 
so  purified. 

Although  nothing  of  His  is  lost.  He  does  not  hold 
us  responsible  for  understanding  everything  that  He 
said.  For  instance,  there  is  in  the  East  a  pathetic 
class  of  men,  almost  unknown  among  us,  not  one  of 
whom,  so  far  as  we  are  told,  ever  came  to  Him,  but 
who,  none  the  less,  received  a  special  message.  A 
saviour  less  courageous  than  our  Lord  would  have 
left  these  men  to  take  their  chance  with  the  rest, 
and  perhaps  be  driven  from  salvation;  but  He  made 
it  clear,  with  unflinching  candor,  tliat  He  understood 
their  case  in  all  its  bearings,  and  did  not  blame  them 


WHAT  HIS  TRUTH  COSTS  163 

or  despise  them  for  their  misfortune.  As  in  His 
teaching  on  marriage,  so  here,  He  said,  let  those  re- 
ceive it  who  can  receive  it.  It  may  be  that  we  do  not 
need  that  particular  word.  But  the  word  meant  life 
or  death  to  the  first  convert  from  Ethiopia. 

Finally,  we  should  remember  that  He  did  not  leave 
behind  Him  a  book  of  proverbs,  over  which  we  are  to 
wrangle  as  best  we  may,  but  the  Spirit  of  Truth — not 
of  Conjecture,  or  Criticism,  or  Hypothesis — who  is 
our  Comforter.  The  Spirit  understands  us,  our 
circumstances,  and  these  words  of  our  Lord,  which 
were  spoken  in  that  Spirit,  and  so  can  reconcile  all 
three.  What  we  call  our  private  judgment  should  be 
the  acceptance  of  that  inward  illumination.  It  is 
personal  to  each  of  us,  yet  not  discordant,  for  we 
regard  the  same  objects  with  the  same  vision,  only 
from  diverse  standpoints.  The  Spirit's  guidance  is 
not  the  infallibility  of  the  Pope,  who  does  not  really 
know  about  us,  yet  legislates  as  if  he  were  omniscient. 
But  it  is  certain  as  the  stars,  since  His  Word  is  His 
Bond,  His  Covenant.  That  illumination  accompanies 
men  and  women  who  desire  it  wherever  they  go, 
resolving  their  doubts,  guiding  their  opinions,  dispel- 
ling their  errors.  No  inquiry  is  resisted,  for  the  aim  is 
"all  truth."  But  the  greater  the  truth,  the  larger 
must  be  the  obedience,  for  it  is  they  who  do  the  works 
who  shall  know  of  the  doctrine.  It  is  not  Truth  as  a 
mere  satisfaction  to  curiosity  that  He  gives  us,  but 
truth  as  the  basis  of  conduct,  the  food  of  the  soul, 
the  sustenance  of  love  and  faith  and  joy,  the  life  breath 
of  our  happiness  and  peace.  And  His  Truth  em- 
braces, not  only  the  material  and  temporal  things  that 
we  see  with  our  eyes,  wonderful  though  they  be,  but 
the  spiritual  and  eternal,  from  which  there  is  no  escape. 


XXIII 
OUR  LORD  AND  HIS  BIBLE 

An  Unerring  Mirror — Old  and  New — One  and  Indivisible — The 
Test  of  Truth. 

SOME  of  US  who  wish,  as  we  say,  to  come  back 
to  Christ,  shut  up  the  Old  Testament,  so  ex- 
quisitely rendered  into  our  mother  tongue,  because  we 
do  not  see  how  its  records  of  war  and  crime  and  lust 
fit  in  with  the  noble  teachings  of  our  Saviour.  I 
think  there  must  be  some  mistake  here,  for  the  Jewish 
Bible  was,  so  far  as  we  know,  the  only  literature  to 
which  the  Lord  Jesus  had  access.  It  was  His  custom 
to  attend  the  synagogue  on  the  Sabbath  day  and  to 
hear  it  read;  and  on  one  occasion,  when  they  delivered 
to  Him  the  Book  of  Isaiah,  He  did  not  lay  it  aside  as  if 
it  were  out  of  date,  nor  question  the  authorship,  as 
if  this  determined  inspiration,  but  opened  the  Book, 
as  did  Wycliffe,  and  found  the  place,  as  one  who  knew 
it  well.  Humbly  accepting  our  limitations  of  memory. 
He  read  a  passage,  and  only  closed  the  parchment 
when,  with  the  Word  in  men's  minds,  it  had  served 
its  purpose.  And  He  handed  back  the  roll  to  the  min- 
ister, to  be  preserved  as  a  record  of  supreme  value  for 
generations  to  come. 

He  who  as  Man  had  stood  before  them  to  read,  then 

164 


OUR  LORD  AND  HIS  BIBLE  165 

sat,  as  Lord  and  Master,  to  teach.  Their  eyes  were 
fastened  no  longer  on  the  inscribed  page  but  on  Him; 
and  what  He  said  was  that  the  written  words,  so  far 
from  being  obsolete,  were  that  day  actually  fulfilled. 
The  Spirit  of  Isaiah — this  was  the  Spirit  that  was 
upon  Him.  He  also  would  preach  to  the  poor.  He 
also  would  heal  the  broken-hearted.  He  also  would 
deliver  the  captives.  He  also  would  enlighten  the 
blind.  He  also  would  Hberate  the  bruised.  It  was 
the  graciousness  of  His  Old  Testament  message  that 
astonished  them  all. 

An  Unerring  Mirror. 

And  it  was  the  breadth  of  the  Old  Testament,  not 
its  narrowness,  that  afterwards  angered  their  minds 
and  endangered  His  life.  He  said  nothing  original 
when  He  told  them  that  the  widow  who  was  blessed 
by  Elisha  was,  like  Naaman  the  leper,  whom  he  healed, 
a  heathen  beyond  the  pale  of  Judaism.  The  stories 
were  as  familiar  to  those  Nazarenes  as  the  cliff  from 
which  they  would  have  hurled  the  Man  who  recalled 
them.  This  "  tribal  volume,"  as  some  people  regard 
it,  brought  home  to  Him,  and  through  Him  to  His 
hearers,  how  there  should  be  no  salvation  offered  to 
them  which  was  not  available  for  all  mankind,  how 
God  so  loved,  not  one  nation  only,  but  the  world,  that 
He  gave  His  only-begotten  Son. 

We  condemn  those  narrow-minded  people  for  not 
appreciating  the  Old  Testament's  universal  message. 
But  how  many  of  us  would  listen  patiently  if  some 
preacher  were  to  tell  us  that  enemies  of  our  country 
have  received  comfort  from  God  of  which  we,  with  our 
privileges,  have  proved  unworthy?  We  have  talked 
about  our  superior  altruism,  but  is  not  our  quarrel 


166  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

with  the  Old  Testament  just  this — that,  like  the  men 
of  Nazareth,  we  are  humiliated  at  discovering  our- 
selves in  that  unerring  mirror.  The  War  and  the 
crime  and  the  lust  therein  described  find  us  out,  and 
bring  us  under  the  general  condemnation  which 
envelops  all  mankind.  We  do  not  like  to  think  that 
it  is  only  the  "  poor,"  "  the  broken-hearted,"  **  the 
captives,"  "  the  blind,"  and  "  the  bruised "  who  are 
born  once  more  in  the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord. 
We  are  restless  at  the  assertion  that  on  our  nation,  as 
a  nation,  no  blessing  is  granted  which  is  not  to  be 
shared  by  us  with  all  the  nations  under  heaven. 

Christ  called  Himself  a  Householder  who  brings 
forth  treasures,  new  and  old,  not  one  without  the 
other,  but  both.  He  spoke  of  the  Scriptures  as  a 
garment  which  clothes  the  soul,  and  as  a  bottle  which 
preserves  the  life.  He  did  not  alter  or  add  to  what  had 
been  written.  The  inserted  patch  would  have  torn 
the  context.  He  did  not  pour  the  new  wine  of  His 
Gospel  into  the  ancient  literary  form;  He  developed 
his  own  vehicle  of  expression — a  proverb — a  prayer — 
a  parable — a  blessing — a  lament — all  gathered  from 
the  past,  but  all  made  new,  like  a  fresh  wineskin.  And 
so  it  is  to-day  with  our  creeds,  and  churches,  and  con- 
stitutions. Under  the  stress  of  His  abundant  wisdom 
they  are  ever  breaking  down.  There  is  dissent,  and 
again  dissent;  and  His  new  wine  is  spilled  and 
wasted  because  human  institutions  and  human  systems 
cannot  contain  One  who  exceeds  the  Heaven  of 
heavens. 

Old  and  New. 

Not  that  He  abolished  cloth  and  wine.  He  made 
these  and  all  things  new.     The  old  song  of  Hannah 


OUR  LORD  AND  HIS  BIBLE  167 

became  the  new  song  of  Mary.  The  prophecies  of  a 
sufifering  Messiah  became  prophecies  of  a  Messiah 
triumphant.  The  old  miracles  became  new  miracles. 
The  old  kingdom  became  a  new  kingdom;  the  old 
Jerusalem,  a  new  Jerusalem.  In  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount  there  is  not  one  thought  which  cannot  be  traced 
to  the  Old  Testament.  "  Blessed  "  was  Abraham's 
favorite  word.  Moses,  like  our  Lord,  pronounced 
woes.  Aaron  made  it  a  rigid  rule  that  every  sacrifice 
must  be  salted  with  the  salt  of  self-criticism.  Joshua 
warned  us  that  we  must  choose  this  day  whom  we 
would  serve — God  or  Mammon — we  cannot  have 
both. 

Take  the  Beatitudes.  The  Psalmists  knew  how 
near  was  God  to  the  contrite  spirit,  that  it  is  the  man 
of  a  pure  heart  who  sees  the  face  of  the  King  on  His 
holy  hill;  that  the  meek — the  men  who  obey  as  sons 
obey  a  father — inherit  the  earth,  as  their  Father's 
estate,  not  by  conquest,  but  by  right,  since  to  conquer 
oneself  is  to  have  conquered  the  universe.  It  was 
David  who  taught  us  that  with  the  merciful,  God 
shows  Himself  merciful.  It  was  Solomon  who  held 
that  the  path  of  the  just  is  as  a  shining  light.  It  was 
Jeremiah  who  won  the  happiness  which  comes  by 
persecution  and  despiteful  usage.  It  was  Isaiah  who 
promised  comfort  to  those  who  mourn.  It  was 
Amos  who  found  a  famine  that  was  not  of  bread,  a 
thirst  which  was  not  of  water,  a  yearning  for  the 
words  of  the  Lord.  In  the  New,  we  read  of  the  house 
built  on  the  rock  and  the  house  built  on  the  sand. 
And,  in  the  Old,  we  are  advised  that,  except  the  Lord 
build  the  house,  they  labor  in  vain  who  build  it. 


168  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

One  and  Indivisible. 

The  Bible  is  one  and  indivisible.  You  cannot 
tear  it  apart.  It  stands  or  falls  as  a  whole.  And 
it  is  not  by  neglecting  the  Old  Testament  that  we 
gain  a  better  knowledge  of  our  Saviour — quite  the 
reverse.  The  men  who  looked  forward  to  Him  have 
many  lessons  to  teach  us  who  look  backward,  and  it  is 
He  Himself  who  asked  us  to  search  their  writings.  He 
would  have  us  take  time  over  them  and  so  discover 
Him.  Those  people,  in  His  view,  "  greatly  err " 
who  remain  ignorant  of  these  Scriptures.  He  would 
not  countenance  the  questions  of  the  Samaritan 
woman,  for  He  told  her  plainly  that  the  Jews  knew 
what  they  believed  and  would  give  Salvation  to  the 
world;  and  when  He  rose  from  the  dead.  He  granted 
His  special  company  to  disciples  who  were  still  pa- 
tiently discussing  the  Prophets.  After  he  had 
ascended,  the  early  Christians  steadily  pursued  their 
study  of  the  Hebrew  Bible;  their  sacred  Epistles  were 
full  of  it,  and  the  Revelation  of  John  is  a  mosaic  of 
which  every  jewel  as  it  gleams  is  drawn  from  that  in- 
exhaustible treasury. 

For  He  comes  to  us  as  a  Greater  than  Solomon  in 
his  wisdom  and  a  Greater  than  Jonah  in  his  zeal. 
Reading  His  Old  Testament,  not  for  criticism  but  for 
food,  He  found  there  His  own  Divinity,  for  otherwise 
how  did  David  call  Him  Lord,  who  was  also  his  Son? 
And  He  found  there  eternal  life,  for  otherwise  how 
was  God  the  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  if 
the  patriarchs  who  are  dead  have  ceased  to  be?  And 
it  was  from  those  same  writings  that  He  quoted  when 
He  told  us  that  God  desires  mercy  and  not  sacrifice, 
lest  we  condemn  the  guiltless.    A  Book  that  He  used 


OUR  LORD  AND  HIS  BIBLE  169 

with  such  effect — words  that  rose  to  His  lips  so  fre- 
quently and  with  such  strengthening  comfort — verses 
which  so  unfailingly  solved  His  hardest  problems — 
do  we  not  realize  that  in  His  love  and  prevision  of  our 
needs  He  has  handed  them  on  to  us,  not  as  burdens, 
but  as  sustenance,  as  a  staff  to  uplift  as  much  as  a  rod 
to  correct  us? 

The  Test  of  Truth. 

It  was  not  the  ideals  of  the  Jews  that  were  wrong — 
they  and  all  of  us  have  had  excellent  ideals.  The 
difficulty  is  to  carry  them  out.  The  ideals  of  Jesus 
summed  up  all  others,  but  He  did  not  forget,  as  we  like 
to  do,  the  actual  depravity  of  mankind.  He  tested  the 
book,  not  by  prettiness,  but  by  truth.  We  criticize  the 
slaughter  of  the  Amalekites.  What  was  that  incident 
compared  with  the  present  War,  which  Christ  fore- 
told? We  are  horrified  by  the  material  doom  of 
Edom  and  Moab.  How  about  the  spiritual  doom 
which  He  pronounced  upon  Capernaum  and  Bethsaida 
and  Chorazin?  The  Babylonians  captured  Jerusalem. 
What  was  that  calamity  in  comparison  with  the 
prophesied  siege  by  Titus  ?  There  was  a  flood  of  water 
in  the  days  of  Noah.  What  was  its  terror  by  the  side 
of  the  lakes  of  fire  which  man's  wickedness  has  devised 
for  man  ? 

Knowing  that  these  things  would  come  to  pass, 
Jesus  did  not  flinch  at  the  fate  of  Sodom  and  Gomor- 
rah. He  said  it  would  be  more  tolerable  for  them  in 
the  day  of  judgment  than  for  some  of  us.  He  did  not 
question  the  repentance  of  Nineveh;  He  warned  us 
that  the  Ninevites  will  rise  up  as  our  judges.  He  did 
not  criticize  the  discipleship  of  the  Sheban  Queen;  He 
asked  us  to  consider  her  as  our  example.    He  did  not 


170  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

attack  the  ancient  sacrifices  of  bulls  and  goats;  He 
offered  Himself  at  the  hour  of  the  evening  sacrifice, 
a  perfect  Victim,  to  make  for  all  our  sins  a  complete 
and  final  atonement.  And  it  seems  as  if,  deliberately, 
He  put  His  divine  imprimatur  on  those  ancient 
miracles, — the  fiery  serpents,  the  manna,  the  heal- 
ing of  Naaman,  the  experiences  of  Jonah — which 
criticism  most  furiously  declares  to  be  incredible. 
And  indeed,  not  less  remarkable  is  the  fact  that  the 
Psalm  in  which  David  refers  to  his  son  as  "  Lord," 
and  so  indicates  the  Majesty  of  the  Messiah,  has  been 
assailed  by  modern  scholarship  with  especial  violence, 
and  roundly  dated  as  "  post-exilic."  With  all  respect 
to  learned  men  of  to-day,  I  hold  to  the  Incomparable 
Wisdom  of  Him  Who,  as  "  the  Mighty  God,"  seems 
to  have  foreseen  these  attacks. 


XXIV 

OXJR  LORD  AND  THE  MIRACLES 
His  Works— His  Word. 

IF  you  tell  me  that  you  do  not  believe  in  the  miracles 
of  the  Bible,  I  will  not  argue,  for  that  would  do 
harm  to  both  of  us;  but  I  will  state  simply  and  briefly 
where  I  stand  in  this  matter.  Life  is  as  incompre- 
hensible now  as  it  was  to  Job  in  his  day ;  I  have  neither 
time  nor  strength  to  wander  uncertainly  amid  its 
mazes;  and,  having  found  in  our  Lord  a  sure  Guide 
to  truths  which  I  can  test  by  experience,  I  am  ready 
to  trust  Him  in  this  where  neither  I  nor  anyone  else 
can  prove  or  disprove  what  is  stated  as  fact.  I  could 
not  so  commit  my  judgment  to  the  Church;  still  less 
to  "  the  results  of  scholarship,"  which  vary  like  the 
fashions.  But  I  am  satisfied  that,  if  my  future  is  safe 
with  our  Redeemer,  so  also  must  be  my  intellect. 
From  which  it  follows  that  it  is  my  duty,  first,  to' 
discover  what  He  thought  and  said  about  miracles; 
and  secondly,  to  accept  what  He  thought  and  said  as 
final.  Instead  of  reducing  my  religion  to  a  wrangle,  I 
thus  find  that  its  very  difficulties  draw  me,  again  and 
again,  to  His  wisdom.  Men  dispute  His  words  and 
limit  His  claim ;  I  rest  assured  that  He  is  in  the  right. 
For  when  I  tell  you,  as  I  have  done,  how  carefully 

171 


17a  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

Jesus  read  His  Old  Testament,  I  am  in  effect  remind- 
ing you  that,  from  a  boy  upwards,  He  also  had  to  face 
this  problem  of  the  supernatural.  We  say  to  ourselves 
that  miracles  happened  many  centuries  ago;  that 
there  is  no  witness,  still  living,  to  bear  testimony  to 
them;  and  that  the  age  of  miracles  is  past  and  gone. 
We  are  only  reviving  the  perplexities  which  faced 
Him  when  He  in  His  day  studied  the  signs  and  won- 
ders of  the  Old  Testament.  We  are  expressly  told  that 
John  the  Baptist  did  no  miracle,  and  that  our  Lord's 
first  act  of  this  kind  was  at  Cana  in  Galilee,  when  He 
was  thirty  years  of  age.  While  He  was  a  young  man, 
there  was  not  the  slightest  indication,  except  within 
Himself,  that  a  new  age  of  wonder  was  to  dawn  on  a 
worn-out  mankind.  Yet  in  the  world,  thus  devoid  of 
"  the  supernatural,"  we  cannot  discover  one  hint  that 
He  ever  doubted  God's  intervention  in  the  affairs  of 
our  race.  While  He  attacked  the  tradition  of  the 
elders,  and  announced  the  impending  fall  of  the  Tem- 
ple, and  overthrew  the  money-changers,  He  had  no 
misgivings  about  the  manna  in  the  wilderness,  the 
brazen  serpent,  and  Jonah's  great  fish;  and,  on  the 
Mount  of  Transfiguration,  He  met,  not  in  controversy, 
but  in  communion,  the  two  greatest  workers  of  mir- 
acles in  the  past,  Moses  and  Elijah — men  whose  deeds 
were  as  wonderful  as  their  deaths.  We  know,  there- 
fore, that  He  reviewed  this  great  matter  in  all  its  bear- 
ings, and  His  verdict  is  explicit.  He  worked  miracles 
Himself.  He  gave  that  power  to  His  disciples.  When 
they  returned  to  Him,  exulting  in  what  they  had 
achieved,  He  did  not  reply,  "  But  I  must  have  evidence 
of  this";  He  accepted  their  word.  And  on  hearing 
that  men  who  did  not  follow  His  apostles  were  yet 
performing  miracles  in  His  Name,  He  did  not  say, 


OUR  LORD  AND  THE  MIRACLES       173 

"Absurd!  Impossible!"  On  the  contrary,  His  com- 
ment was :  "  Forbid  them  not."  For  they  who  exercise 
this  power  in  His  Name  will  not  speak  lightly  of  Him 
— in  their  miracles,  we  see  their  reverence. 

His  Works. 

Some  of  us  think  that  we  can  ignore  His  miracles, 
provided  that  we  accept  and  obey  His  teaching.  If 
I  were  to  try  thus  to  cut  the  Gospels  in  half,  I  am  sure 
that  I  should  fail  over  it.  To  tear  His  words  from  His 
works  is  to  rend  Him  in  twain.  Of  our  Saviour's 
Divinity,  you  cannot  say :  "  Thus  far  shalt  thou 
go,  and  no  farther."  Of  His  birth,  there  are  two, 
but  only  two,  explanations.  Nor  can  we,  on  the  one 
hand,  dismiss  Gabriel,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  retain 
the  Magnificat.  If  peace  on  earth  and  good-will  for 
men  was  not  an  angel-song,  what  was  it?  Did  the 
shepherds  improvise  it?  How  beautiful,  you  say,  that 
we  should  be  told  by  the  Blessed  Virgin  to  do  "  what- 
soever He  saith  unto  us  "  !  But  when  did  she  so  advise 
us,  if  it  were  not  at  the  marriage-feast  where  He 
transformed  the  water  of  obedience  into  the  wine  of 
happiness  ?  We  claim  His  word,  "  I  will — be  thou 
clean,"  as  a  valid  gift  to  ourselves.  Was  it,  then, 
uttered  in  vain  to  the  leper,  or  are  we  really  to  assume 
that  leper  and  priest  were  mere  fiction?  We  are  to 
be  sure  that  He  forgives  us  our  sins,  and  we  are  to 
know  it  because  He  said  so.  Yet  we  are  to  abolish  the 
occasion  which,  as  it  were,  locates  the  utterance  ?  The 
house  with  its  broken  roof,  the  crowds,  the  paralytic 
on  his  bed,  the  four  friends  who  carried  him,  and  the 
muttering  scribes — are  they  to  fade  like  a  dissolving 
view,  leaving  us  the  voice,  not  of  a  Saviour,  but  of  a 
phantom?    Of  what  use  is  it  that  we  meditate  on  His 


174  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

words,  "  It  is  I,  be  not  afraid,"  if  the  storm  and  His 
appearance  on  the  water  be  merely  an  unsubstantial 
nightmare?  Studying  with  dimmed  eyes  the  line  of 
small  print  that  records  your  utter  loss,  how  can  you 
in  this  time  of  war  look  for  comfort  to  Him  who  is 
the  Resurrection  and  the  Life,  if  He  never  wept  for 
Lazarus,  never  commanded  them  to  roll  away  the 
stone,  never  cried  unto  the  dead,  **  Come  forth  " — 
or  only  recited  the  words  as  mockery  amid  the  silent 
rebellion  of  the  unyielding  tomb?  If  He  died  for  us, 
yet  did  not  rise  again,  what  becomes  of  His  comments 
on  Jonah;  His  promise  to  rebuild  the  Temple  in  three 
days;  His  pledge  that  He  will  receive  us  again  unto 
Himself;  His  benediction  on  us  who  have  not  seen 
Him,  yet  believe;  His  desire  that  Peter  should  feed 
His  lambs;  His  final  and  unchangeable  command  that 
those  who  worship  Him  shall  go  into  all  the  world 
and  preach  His  Gospel?  There  is  no  intellectual 
process,  however  ingenious  or  erudite,  by  which  men 
may  enjoy  the  fullness  of  our  Lord's  utterances,  while 
denying  the  fullness  of  His  omnipotence. 

His  Word. 

I  have  been  writing  for  those  who  love  the  Re- 
deemer— better,  it  may  be,  and  certainly  more 
worthily,  than  I  do  myself — who  yet  seek  an  escape 
from  the  demands  of  faith  by  an  impossible  severance 
of  His  words  from  His  works.  But  I  am  aware  that 
there  is  a  larger  challenge  which  cannot  be  passed  by. 
Some  of  us  would  like  to  think  that  the  entire  life  of 
Christ — words  and  works  together — is  an  exquisite 
product  of  the  human  imagination,  playing  around  an 
attractive  Personality,  who  did  not  do  or  say  one- 
tenth  part  of  what  is  now  attributed  to  Him.     I  ask 


OUR  LORD  AND  THE  MIRACLES       175 

the  question:  Whose  imagination?  I  do  not  at  the 
moment  remember  one  great  book  or  great  poem 
written,  or  great  picture  painted,  or  great  piece  of 
music  composed,  by  a  committee!  If  our  Lord  be 
really  a  hero  of  fiction,  who  was  the  author  of  Him? 
You  say  that  it  is  hard  to  think  that  He  was  born  of 
God.  Is  it  easier  to  believe  that  He  was  created  in 
the  brain  of  man?  Homer  and  Shakespeare  have  at 
least  a  name  by  which  they  are  known,  and  as  we  read 
their  works  we  feel  that  they  are  greater  than  the 
children  of  their  genius.  Is  it  really  credible  that, 
in  the  hierarchy  of  literature,  the  man  or  men  who, 
of  their  own  intelligence,  conceived  the  Redeemer  of 
the  world,  and  so  transcended  every  other  effort  of 
the  known  immortals  in  art,  remain  anonymous, 
leaving  behind  them  not  one  trace  of  their  identity? 
I  am  told  that  Christ  did  not  say,  "  I  am  the  True 
Vine,"  and  "  I  am  the  Bread  of  Life,"  and  "  I  am  the 
Good  Shepherd."  Then  who  did  say  it?  Somehow 
or  other  these  words  came  to  the  birth  and  cannot 
now  be  got  rid  of.  What  was  their  origin?  We  still 
await  the  answer  of  those  who  criticize.  As  someone 
has  said,  it  must  have  taken  a  Christ  to  counterfeit 
the  Christ. 

I  do  not  need  to  be  told  that  miracles  may  be 
imagined  or  invented.  About  the  Person  of  our 
Saviour  Himself  there  have  grown  up  many  apocryphal 
legends,  to  which  I  may  refer,  merely  as  contrasts 
with  the  events  recorded  in  the  New  Testament.  We 
are  told  that,  as  a  child.  He  transformed  His  play- 
fellows into  kids,  because  they  declined  to  be  His 
companions;  how  a  boy  who  knocked  Him  down 
was  cursed  to  death;  and  how  a  schoolmaster  who 
corrected  Him  over  His  alphabet  and  struck  Him, 


176  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

was  rewarded  with  a  withered  arm,  "  Hencefor- 
ward," Joseph  is  supposed  to  have  said,  "  let  us  keep 
Him  within  doors,  for  whosoever  sets  himself  against 
Him  perishes."  There,  in  all  their  absurdity  and 
irreverence,  you  have,  in  actual  language,  the  utmost 
achievements  of  mere  tradition!  The  Evangelists  did 
not  argue  about  them.  They  did  not  discuss  them  in 
long  treatises  for  the  learned.  They  declared  as  a 
fact  that  no  such  miracles  occurred;  and,  except  as 
curiosities,  not  one  of  these  preposterous  myths  has 
survived  oblivion.  Many  miracles  have  been  manu- 
factured by  the  superstitious.  That  is  true.  But 
none  such  have  endured. 

For  I  notice  a  subtle  yet  fundamental  difference 
between  our  Lord's  angle  of  vision — when  He  regarded 
the  miraculous-;— and  ours.  We  look  up  to  these  events, 
as  to  the  precipitous  sky-line  of  some  distant  and  in- 
accessible mountain,  which  hardly  seems  to  be  real, 
so  loftily  does  it  tower  above  us.  But  He  regarded 
these  matters  from  above,  and  the  contour  of  rock 
and  ice  which  startles  us  was  to  Him  merged  in  the 
general  landscape,  where  perhaps  it  looms  no  clearer 
than  the  roof  of  some  cottage  where  children  are  play- 
ing. The  multitudes,  and  even  His  apostles  them- 
selves, were  constantly  lost  in  amazement  over  these 
signs  and  wonders  and  powers,  but  to  Him  they  were 
only  a  part  of  His  daily  duty.  What  interests  us 
so  greatly  about  Moses  is  the  crossing  of  the  Red  Sea; 
and  about  Elijah,  the  ascent  to  heaven  in  a  chariot 
of  fire.  On  the  high  hills,  where  He  met  Moses  and 
Elijah,  He  mentioned  neither,  but  conversed  rather 
of  His  approaching  death  at  Jerusalem,  not  by  miracle, 
but  by  violence.  It  was  the  manna  sent  from  heaven 
that    impressed    the   Jews.      What    He    remembered 


OUR  LORD  AND  THE  MIRACLES       177 

was  that  this  material  manna  did  not  sustain  the  body 
that  dies.  It  was  the  brazen  serpent  as  a  symbol  only 
that  He  mentioned;  it  was  Jonah's  three  days,  also  as 
a  symbol,  that  drew  His  comment.  And  when  the 
Seventy  returned  in  triumph  over  sickness  and  devilry 
and  all  the  ills  that  flesh  is  heir  to,  He  told  them  to 
rejoice  rather  because  their  names  were  written  in 
the  Book  of  Life.  To  Him,  who  values  us  all  at  our 
proper  worth,  you  and  I  are  of  higher  price  than  any- 
thing that  we  can  hope  to  achieve.  And  where  we 
regard  the  miracle  as  an  almost  incredible  evidence 
of  power,  it  was  to  Him  but  one  among  many  revela- 
tions of  the  Divine  Love. 


XXV 

THE  RECOGNITION  OF  OUR  LORD 

God  and  Man — The  Miracle  at  Cana— What  Faith  really  is. 

YOU  must  not  ask  me  to  tell  you  how  it  was 
that  Jesus  came  to  us  as  God  and  Man,  for 
this  is  a  mystery,  which  means  an  undisclosed  truth 
that  cannot  be  put  into  words,  and  the  attempt  to 
do  so  has  often  tortured  the  Church  with  dissension, 
and  obscured  His  Presence  among  those  who  needed 
His  help.  So  bitterly  have  people  argued  about  His 
Divinity  that  their  schisms  and  heresies  and  even 
their  very  orthodoxy  outclamored  the  good  news  of 
His  great  love;  and  where  the  Arians,  and  the  Nes- 
torians,  and  the  Eutychians,  and  the  Monophysites 
could  not  find  terms  for  His  majesty,  I  must  be  con- 
tent with  the  Gospels. 

There  I  find  that  He  does  not  expect  us  to  under- 
stand what  theologians  call  "  His  substance,"  but 
He  would  have  us  "  receive  Him,"  and  they  who 
thus  take  Him  have  "  the  right  to  become  the  sons 
of  God."  So  He  describes  Himself,  not  in  hard 
terms,  but  simply  as  the  Light  by  which  we  see,  as 
the  Shepherd  who  cares  for  us,  as  the  Master  who 
teaches,  as  the  Friend  whose  love  is  even  unto  death, 
as  the  Way  by  which  we  walk,  the  Truth  by  which 

178 


THE  RECOGNITION  OF  OUR  LORD     179 

we  think — nay,  as  our  Life  itself,  as  branches  have 
life  in  the  vine.  When  He  fed  the  multitudes.  He 
showed  His  providence  for  their  temporal  needs; 
but  when  His  own,  His  very  own  disciples,  gathered 
around  Him  before  He  suffered.  He  remembered 
that  they  could  not  live  by  bread  alone.  "  Take, 
eat,"  said  He,  as  He  handed  them  the  loaf.  "  This 
is  My  Body,  which  is  broken  for  you";  and,  as  He 
passed  the  cup,  "  This  is  My  Blood,  which  was  shed 
for  you."  Every  part  of  Him — all  that  felt,  and 
saw,  and  heard,  and  spoke,  and  suffered — was  given 
to  them — not  easily,  but  with  pain — by  shedding, 
by  breaking — and  their  communion  was  accepting 
the  Gift,  With  Jesus  Himself  as  Priest,  there  lay 
no  special  virtue  in  the  bread  as  such,  nor  in  the 
wine,  but  only  in  the  remembrance  of  Him.  Peter, 
who  was  one  of  them,  denied  Him  thrice,  and  on  that 
remembrance  went  out  and  wept  bitterly,  Judas 
betrayed  Him,  and,  remembering,  hanged  himself. 
It  was  when  He  blessed  and  brake  the  bread  that 
remembrance  flashed  on  His  friends  at  Emmaus. 

God  and  Man. 

Those  who  met  Him  in  the  flesh  never  doubted 
that  He  was  Man,  They  brought  Him  food  and 
begged  Him  to  eat,  and  they  put  a  pillow  for  Him 
that  He  might  sleep  in  the  boat.  When  He  entered 
the  city,  they  set  Him  on  an  ass;  and,  even  as  trans- 
figured, Peter  would  have  built  for  Him  a  shelter  on 
the  mountain.  No  one  loved  Him  more  reverently 
than  Mary  of  Bethany,  yet  it  was  over  His  human 
feet  that  she  poured  her  ointment.  And  after  His 
resurrection  Mary  Magdalene  mistook  Him,  not  for 
a  vision,  but  for  the  gardener.    The  disciples  walking 


180  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

to  Emmaus  assumed  that  He  was  a  stranger  on  the 
road. 

When  we  think  about  our  Lord's  Manhood,  we  do 
not  challenge  His  Godhead.  No  one  confessed  that 
Godhead  more  clearly  than  Peter,  who  yet  feared 
what  He  would  suffer  in  the  body  at  Jerusalem.  And 
it  was  the  print  of  the  nails  in  His  human  hands,  the 
wound  of  the  spear  in  His  human  side,  that  drew 
from  Thomas  the  words,  "  My  Lord  and  my  God." 
The  soldiers  who  unclothed  and  reclothed  Him,  who 
scourged  Him  and  smote  Him  and  crowned  Him  and 
nailed  Him  to  a  cross  of  wood,  little  thought  that 
they  were  proving  Him  no  phantom  or  wraith  of  the 
imagination;  as  John,  who  lay  on  His  very  bosom, 
testified,  when  they  pierced  His  side,  and  drew  from 
His  broken  heart  both  blood  and  water,  they  proved 
that  His  nature  was  ours. 

But  He  seemed  to  be  wearing  our  nature,  as  it 
were,  on  a  throne.  When  He  was  "  a  mere  boy," 
the  scribes  were  amazed  by  His  answers;  and,  a 
few  years  later,  asked  how  He  knew  His  letters, 
having  never  learned.  Andrew,  His  first  disciple, 
was  convinced  that  here  was  the  Messiah.  Philip, 
though  knowing  Him  only  as  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the 
son  of  Joseph,  realized  that  He  was  the  One  of  whom 
Moses  and  the  Prophets  spoke.  Nathanael,  with  the 
pure  heart,  saw  Him  Divine  as  Son  of  God,  and 
human  as  King  of  Israel.  The  woman  of  Samaria 
perceived  that  He  was  a  Prophet;  while  her  neigh- 
bors, having  heard  Him  themselves,  were  assured 
that  He  was  Christ,  the  Saviour,  not  of  Israel  only, 
but  of  the  world.  Single-handed — for  the  disciples 
gave  Him  no  help — He  twice  drove  the  money- 
changers from  the  Temple.     Unarmed — for  they  did 


THE  RECOGNITION  OF  OUR  LORD     181 

not  defend  Him — He  faced  the  mob  at  Nazareth,  who 
would  have  lawlessly  hurled  Him  from  a  cliff,  and 
that  other  mob  at  Jerusalem,  who,  with  memories 
of  Moses,  would  have  stoned  Him.  Those  who  were 
first  sent  to  arrest  Him  returned,  saying  that  never 
man  spake  as  He  did.  In  the  Garden,  the  officers 
with  swords  and  staves  fell  backward  at  sight  of 
Him.  The  multitude,  who  would  have  made  Him 
a  king,  realized  His  majesty  less  clearly  than  His 
opponents,  who  were  haunted  with  the  idea  that  He 
was  a  King  already.  It  was  as  a  Monarch  that  the 
soldiers  mocked  this  Royal  Man;  and  Pilate,  nailing 
it  to  His  cross,  refused  to  unwrite  the  eternal  truth. 
Even  the  thief  who  died  with  Him  was  assured  that 
He  had  done  nothing  amiss,  and  that  His  crucifixion 
was  the  accession  of  a  Sovereign  to  His  rightful 
realm;  while  the  centurion,  who  contemplated  "the 
felon's  death,"  cried,  "  Truly,  this  was  the  Son  of 
God." 

The  Miracle  at  Cana. 

His  greatness  was  in  Himself — not  in  what  He 
did.  Being  what  He  was.  His  miracles  were  inevit- 
able. The  marriage  at  Cana  came  three  days  after 
Nathanael's  confession,  so  that  people  were  speaking 
of  Him  as  Divine  before  He  had  shown  them  one  sign 
of  His  material  power.  When  He  attended  that 
wedding  breakfast.  He  was  a  Man,  still  almost  un- 
known; yet  His  mother — the  one  most  intimate  with 
His  Person — who  had  waited  thirty  years  for  the 
fulfillment  of  the  promises  made  to  her  at  His  birth, 
yet  knew  that  He  was  Omnipotent,  and  that  His 
hour  would  come.  About  what  happened  there  was 
no  premeditation.     The  six  waterpots  were  there — 


182  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

not  for  wine,  but  for  washing.  Having  served  their 
purpose,  they  were  empty.  The  surprise  of  the 
governor  was  genuine.  There  was  no  explanation 
from  the  bridegroom.  Nor  did  the  memory  of  that 
miracle  fade.  Jesus  went  away  quietly  to  Jerusalem, 
and,  as  it  were,  left  the  event  to  stand  the  test  of 
inquiry — alone  and  unsupported  by  other  marvels; 
with  the  result  that  when  He  returned  to  Cana — not 
avoiding  the  place,  as  an  impostor  would  have  done 
— He  was  immediately  met  by  a  nobleman,  who  was 
ready  to  trust  to  Him  the  fate  of  his  dying  child. 

"  Except  ye  see  signs  and  w^onders,"  said  He,  "  ye 
will  not  believe."  In  form,  it  was  a  complaint; 
within  the  words  lay  the  meaning  of  His  Kingliness. 
A  sovereign's  authority  is  limited  by  his  prerogative; 
his  laws  are  known  by  the  laws  that  he  can  suspend. 
Jesus  seldom  asserted  His  prerogative.  He  forbade 
the  devils  to  acknowledge  it  openly — desiring  no 
homage  from  hatred  and  rebellion;  and  where  men 
denied  it.  He  did  no  mighty  work  within  their  border. 
What  happened  was  that  people  themselves  assigned 
to  Him  His  sovereign  rights.  The  servants  who 
drew  the  water,  having  seen  Jesus  and  obeyed  Him, 
expressed  no  surprise  at  the  result.  To  the  noble- 
man, it  seemed  impossible  that  his  child  could  die 
in  the  presence  of  the  Saviour.  To  Peter,  it  was 
obvious  that  the  net,  empty  all  night,  should  be 
lowered  at  the  word  of  Jesus.  When  the  tempest 
raged,  it  did  not  occur  to  them  that  Jesus  was  in 
danger;  their  suggestion  was  that  He  did  not  care; 
and  this  was  what  Martha  and  Mary  said  to  one 
another  when  in  His  absence  Lazarus  died.  Jairus 
was  certain  that  one  touch  of  the  Master's  hand 
would  bring  life  to  his  daughter;   and  the  afflicted 


THE  RECOGNITION  OF  OUR  LORD     183 

woman  had  equal  faith  in  the  hem  of  His  garment. 
Blind  men  were  sure  that  He  could  open  their  eyes, 
and  lepers  that  He  could  cleanse  them;  while  the 
centurion  whose  servant  was  sick  considered  that 
His  authority  was  as  absolute  as  that  of  an  officer 
over  his  soldiers.  When  He  fed  the  multitudes,  the 
disciples  at  once  submitted  to  His  orders.  When 
He  walked  on  the  waters,  Peter  doubted  not  His 
power,  but  only  His  identity;  and  when  He  said 
"  Weep  not "  to  the  widow  at  Nain,  the  bearers  of 
her  son  stood  still,  expecting  something  more. 

Finally,  take  blind  Bartimaeus  at  Jericho — a  mere 
beggar,  of  no  account  with  the  crowd,  who  yet  cried, 
and  again  cried,  with  ever-increasing  persistence, 
demanding  mercy.  See  how  that  poor  man's  cry 
arrested  the  Son  of  God  in  His  progress  through  the 
city;  how,  with  irresistible  authority,  He  commanded 
the  man  to  be  brought;  how  the  multitude,  which 
tried  to  silence  him,  changed  round,  told  him  to  be 
of  good  comfort — to  rise — "  He  calleth  thee  " ;  how 
the  blind  man  sprang  up,  throwing  away  his  garment, 
and  received  his  sight,  and  followed  Jesus  in  the  way 
of  happiness  and  enlightenment. 

What  Faith  really  is. 

These  people  were  not  rich  or  learned  or  powerful ; 
but  what  they  had  was  faith,  and  it  is  from  them  in 
their  need  that  we  learn  what  faith  really  means. 
It  was  a  seeing  of  the  invisible  that  "  made  Bartimaeus 
whole."  When  blind  men  came  to  Him,  Jesus  would 
use  the  very  moisture  of  His  mouth  to  show  them, 
by  their  remaining  sense  of  touch,  that  their  sight 
would  come  from  Him.  When  the  deaf  and  dumb 
man  wanted  liberation,  He  looked  up  to  heaven  and 


184  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

sighed,  drawing  a  deep  breath,  that  the  man  could  see, 
though  not  hear,  and  so  teaching  him  where  lay  His 
help  in  time  of  trouble.  Where  Moses  used  a  rod, 
and  Elijah  a  mantle,  and  Elisha  a  cruse  of  salt — some 
symbol  other  than  themselves — our  Lord  had  no  need 
to  go  beyond  a  touch  of  love  and  a  word  of  power 
when  He  said  to  the  leper,  "I  will;  be  thou  clean." 
It  was  from  His  lips  that  His  scepter  proceeded. 
These  people  recognized  Him  as  King,  and  so  derived 
their  privileges  as  His  subjects. 

What  aroused  His  wonder  was  not  the  miracles 
that  He  performed,  but  this  faith  or  absence  of  faith 
among  the  people.  The  healing  of  the  Syro-Phoenician 
woman  was  part  of  the  day's  allotted  duty — but  her 
persistence  revealed  the  greatness  of  her  faith.  What 
astonished  Him  in  the  centurion's  faith  was  the  fact 
that  the  man  knew  how  distance  mattered  nothing  to 
the  Lord  of  Eternity — a  truth  hardly  realized  even  by 
Martha  and  Mary.  Their  faith,  not  His  work,  was  to 
Him  the  miracle.  He  sternly  rebuked  the  devils  who 
acclaimed  Him,  for  their  knowledge  was  their  con- 
demnation; but  Peter  He  blessed,  for  what  he  saw 
in  the  Redeemer  was  no  rebel  tribute,  but  a  vision 
granted  by  God  Himself.  Others  received  Him  as  a 
prophet,  and  had  the  prophet's  reward;  or  as  a  right- 
eous man,  and  had  the  righteous  man's  reward.  He 
did  not  denounce  these  Unitarians — He  only  made 
it  clear  that  according  to  their  faith  would  it  be  unto 
them.  The  limit  of  blessing  was  with  them,  not  with 
Him.     They  take  part,  where  He  offers  all. 

But  Simon,  though  the  most  erratic  of  the  Apostles 
— who  besought  Jesus  to  depart  from  him  because 
he  was  so  sinful  a  man,  and  was,  as  Satan,  tempting 
Jesus  to  avoid  Jerusalem,   and  knew  not  what  he 


THE  RECOGNITION  OF  OUR  LORD     185 

said  on  the  Mountain  of  Transfiguration,  and  would 
not  have  the  Master  wash  his  feet,  and  boasted  at  the 
supper,  and  slept  in  the  Garden,  and  struck  off  the 
ear  which  Jesus  restored,  and  denied  his  Master 
thrice,  and  was  withstood  by  Paul,  because  he  was 
to  be  blamed — this  Simon,  so  wayward,  so  impetuous, 
becomes  Peter  the  "  rock,"  built,  with  other  living 
stones,  into  the  very  foundation  of  His  Church — 
immovable,  and  why?  Because,  in  Christ,  he  saw 
God,  and  so  led  the  other  Apostles.  Against  that  faith 
the  gates  of  hell  cannot  prevail — no  miseries  can 
quench  that  vision — and  they  who  hold  it  bind  on  men 
their  duties,  and  loose  men  from  their  infirmities,  by 
a  standard  that  includes  both  earth  and  heaven,  the 
here  and  the  hereafter,  since  their  will  is  the  will  of 
the  Everlasting. 


XXVI 
THE  JUDGMENTS  OF  CHRIST 

Conquest   by   Sacrifice  —  Love  and   Wrath  — "  Resist   not  an 
Injury" — Christ  and  War. 

DESPITE  the  language  of  certain  hymns  that  we 
sing,  we  do  not  find  that  any  of  the  inspired 
Evangehsts  apphed  to  our  Saviour  the  softer  adjec- 
tives, like  "mild"  and  "sweet"  and  "kind."  The 
strong,  true,  and  often  stern  portraiture  of  the  Gos- 
pels was  wholly  devoid  of  that  air  of  yielding  benevo- 
lence which  pervades  so  many  pictures  and  images  of 
our  Lord.  He  did  not  merely  "  mean  well  ";  He  went 
about  actually  doing  the  good,  and  allowed  Himself 
no  leisure  until  He  had  finished  His  work;  even  in 
His  gentlest  utterances  there  is  the  salt  of  duty,  with 
its  savor  of  judgment. 

He  did  not  say,  "  Come  unto  Me  all  ye  that  are 
lazy,"  and,  like  the  Pharisees,  leave  others  to  lift  their 
burdens,  so  grievous  to  be  borne ;  "  Come  unto  Me  all 
ye  that  labor,"  was  His  invitation.  He  wanted 
laborers;  He  realized  that  they  were  too  few  for  the 
fields  of  opportunity,  white  unto  harvest.  He  would 
engage  such  even  at  the  eleventh  hour;  to  work,  not 
for  the  meat  which  perishes  anyway,  but  for  the  souls 
of  men,  which  may  still  be  saved.     He  wishes  us  to 

186 


THE  JUDGMENTS  OF  CHRIST         187 

be  heavy-laden,  not  with  worry,  and  sin,  and  care, 
and  remorse  of  our  own,  but  with  others'  burdens. 
Bearing  these  is  His  law.  His  yoke — not  imposed  upon 
us  by  compulsion,  but  taken  by  us  of  our  free  will, 
and  shared  with  Him  on  those  terms.  He  begins  by 
giving  us  rest,  we  know  not  how;  but  He  would  have 
us  in  due  course  find  it  for  ourselves,  and  so  under- 
stand why  it  is  bestowed  on  us.  H  His  yoke  is  easy, 
it  is  because  we  have  with  Him  one  impulse,  one  sense 
of  duty,  which  eliminates  friction,  jealousies,  quar- 
rels, lawsuits,  so  producing  the  utmost,  because  the 
best-directed,  efficiency.  H  His  burden  is  light,  it  is 
because  it  has  ceased  to  be  our  own  or  even  our  neigh- 
bor's. He  bears  it  with  us,  and  so  measures  the 
weight,  granting  thus  the  strength  by  which  it  may 
be  lifted. 

Conquest  by  Sacrifice. 

Our  Lord's  Beatitudes,  too — they  also  were  based 
not  upon  ease  and  indulgence,  but  upon  conquest  by 
sacrifice.  To  be  poor  in  spirit,  we  must  rid  ourselves 
of  pride  and  prejudice.  We  mourn  for  sin  only  when 
we  have  abandoned  it.  We  are  meek  when  we  keep 
— restrain — our  temper.  We  hunger  and  thirst  after 
righteousness  when  (at  least)  we  have  painfully  denied 
ourselves  what  is  unrighteous.  We  are  merciful  when 
we  expel  our  grudges  and  grievances  and  terrors  and 
lust  for  revenge.  We  are  pure  in  heart  when,  by 
God's  grace,  we  are  cleansed  of  vices.  And  we  are 
peacemakers  when  from  our  minds  we  obliterate 
anger  and  suspicion  and  revolt. 

It  is  not  an  easy  religion,  this  of  Jesus  Christ.  No 
idealist  has  ever  set  so  lofty  a  standard  as  His,  for  He 
is  unsatisfied  unless  we  be  perfect,  even  as  our  Father 


188  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

in  heaven  is  perfect.  To  Him,  no  peccadillo  is 
venial.  A  heated  word  is  murder.  An  evil  glance  is 
adultery.  Even  in  an  oath,  His  eye,  so  sensitive  in 
its  accurate  discernment,  detected  evil.  "  Verily, 
verily,  I  say  unto  you,"  was  His  own  imprimatur  of 
truth,  and  He  limits  us  also  to  a  simple  "  Yea,  yea  " 
and  "  Nay,  nay."  Whatever  emphasis  exceeds  this, 
He  condemns  as  sacrilege.  To  swear  by  heaven,  it 
is  God's  throne;  by  earth,  it  is  His  footstool;  by 
Jerusalem,  it  is  His  city;  by  the  hairs  of  our  head 
— God  only  can  count  them,  and  change  them  from 
black  to  white.  We  are  surrounded  by  God's  great- 
ness; therefore  let  our  words  be  few,  for  by  those 
words  we  are  justified  and  by  them  we  are  condemned. 
Nor  were  these  views  of  merely  academic  interest. 
One  only  of  His  Apostles  ever  swore;  but  that  Apostle 
was  Peter,  and  what  he  swore  was  that  he  knew  noth- 
ing of  Jesus.  Bad  language,  as  we  call  it,  is  really 
needless  language;  the  idle  word,  which  serves  no  pur- 
pose. Of  every  such  utterance  we  shall  have  one  day 
to  give  account,  and  it  is  only  by  our  recognizing  the 
keenness  of  our  Lord's  detection  of  sin  that  we  can 
appreciate  the  love  which  led  Him  to  bear  it. 

Love  and  Wrath. 

We  like  to  think  of  the  kindness  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
when  He  blessed  little  children.  We  do  not  so  often 
remember  the  anger,  moved  by  which  He  spoke  about 
those  millstones  that  have  bruised  the  feet  of  children, 
and  are  bound  about  the  necks  of  men.  The  drunkard 
who  is  his  own  enemy — for  him  let  us  pray;  but  for 
the  drunkard  who  is  untouched  by  the  miseries  of  his 
own  girls  and  boys,  pray  doubly,  for  the  temptation 
has  him  by  the  throat;  he  is  plunged  in  a  sea  of 


THE  JUDGMENTS  OF  CHRIST         189 

'despair — it  would  be  better  for  him  that  he  had  never 
been  born.  We  are  impressed  by  the  humiUty  with 
which  He  washed  the  disciples'  feet.  Do  not  forget 
that  it  was  a  rebuke  to  such  as  sought  to  be  the 
greatest,  and  an  assertion  of  His  sole  mastery  over 
us;  a  warning  to  Peter,  a  judgment  on  Judas.  Within 
a  few  hours,  Peter,  thus  blessed,  was  weeping  bitterly; 
while  Judas  hanged  himself  above  Aceldama,  the  field 
of  blood.  For  judgment,  Jesus  came  into  the  world — 
to  show  us  God;  the  love  of  God  assuredly,  but  the 
wrath  of  God  no  less. 

And  His  test  for  us  is  not  whether  we  go  to  church 
and  chapel,  or  otherwise  call  Him  "  Lord,  Lord." 
He  asks  whether  we  have  helped  those  who  suffer. 
It  is  not  enough  that  we  should  be  sorry  for  them,  and 
send  a  subscription  to  some  society.  What  we  give 
in  money  is  good,  but  it  is  only  the  repayment  of  a 
loan  which,  in  due  course,  will  be  called  in  by  the 
Almighty  Creditor.  What  He  claims  is  that  eternal 
part  of  us,  which  we  are  able  to  give  or  withhold,  here 
and  hereafter;  it  is  the  soul  of  us — the  whole  soul — 
that  must  enter  into  His  work.  The  hungry — have  we 
fed  them?  Surely  we  might  have  shared  His  daily 
bread,  for  it  is  generously  bestowed.  The  thirsty — 
have  we  given  them  drink?  One  cup  of  His  living 
water,  springing  up  within  us — why  withhold  it? 
The  naked — do  we  clothe  them  ?  Or  is  our  righteous- 
ness, like  theirs,  no  better  than  filthy  rags?  The  sick 
• — do  we  visit  them,  or  are  we  ourselves  in  need  of 
heahng?  The  prisoners — do  we  enter  their  narrow 
cells,  or  is  it  that  we  cannot  leave  our  own? 

He  does  not  ask  of  us  more  than  we  can  undertake. 
He  knows  that  we  cannot  ourselves  provide  the  bread 
and  the  water  and  the  clothing,  or  ourselves  heal  the 


190  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

sick  and  liberate  the  prisoners.  But  He  does  hold 
us  answerable  for  the  personal  service  that  we  can 
undertake;  and  if  we  neglect  it,  we  become  strangers 
to  Him.  For  these  people,  so  hungry,  so  ill-clad,  so 
sick,  are  they  for  whom  He  died.  Where  they  are, 
there  is  He,  waiting  for  us  to  keep  our  appointment. 
If  we  refuse  so  to  do,  then  He  does  not  know  us — 
not,  that  is,  as  fellow-laborers  or  yoke-fellows,  but 
only  as  workers  of  iniquity.  This  word  iniquity  does 
not  mean,  of  necessity,  anything  very  bad — iniquity 
is  often  quite  respectable — but  simply  describes  the 
deeds  of  a  servant  who  is  "  unprofitable,"  because  the 
aims  of  his  life  are  misdirected. 

"  Resist  not  an  Injury." 

When  our  Lord  said,  "  Resist  not  evil,"  He  did 
not  mean,  "  Condone  evil,"  or  "  Forgive  evil,"  for 
none  can  pardon  sin  but  God  alone.  This  much- 
debated  command  is  simple  enough  when  you  read  it 
as,  "  Resist  not  an  injury,"  or,  as  the  Lord's  Prayer 
calls  it,  "  a  trespass."  Forgive  your  brother,  not  seven 
times  only,  but  seventy  times  seven,  since  it  is  without 
limit  that  God  has  forgiven  you;  and  whatever  is 
now  done  amiss  is,  not  against  you,  but  against  Him. 
If  a  careless  servant  had  broken  Mary  Magdelene's 
alabaster  box  of  ointment,  very  precious,  who  can  say 
what  punishment  would  have  been  inflicted  by  that 
woman,  with  the  seven  devils  within  her?  But 
loving  much,  because  forgiven  much,  she  broke  it 
willingly  as  a  gift  for  our  Lord.  If  useless  to  Him,  to 
her  also  it  was  useless.  And  when  they  drove  the 
nails  into  His  hands  and  feet.  He  did  not  seem  to  be 
conscious  that  His  was  the  wrong.  He  did  not  say, 
"  I  forgive  " — as  if  the  injury  were  against  Himself — 


THE  JUDGMENTS  OF  CHRIST         0191 

but  "  Father,  forgive."  It  is  not  the  ill-treatment  of 
the  Son  of  Man  that  is  irreparable — "  they  know  not 
what  they  do";  rather,  the  mortal  sin  is  committed 
against  the  Holy  Ghost — against  the  Light,  the  Knowl- 
edge, the  revealed  and  realized  Truth.  You  think  that 
someone  has  injured  you.  Be  it  so;  then  you  should 
forgive,  as  He  did,  because  the  injury  against  you 
cannot  be  as  deep  as  the  implied  injury  against  your 
Father,  who  cares  for  you  better  than  you  have  ever 
cared  for  yourself. 

Our  Lord — in  this,  as  in  other  respects,  living  out 
His  laws — did  not  resist  injuries.  When  Peter  struck 
off  the  ear  of  Malchus,  the  servant  of  the  high  priest, 
Christ  restored  it  with  a  touch.  He  would  not  have 
His  disciples  fight  for  His  deliverance  from  the  civil 
power.  When  one  of  those  same  priestly  servants 
smote  Him  on  the  cheek.  He  turned  the  other,  and  was 
smitten  also  by  the  Roman  soldiers.  When  they  took 
away  His  cloak.  He  gave  them  also  His  seamless  robe. 
And  when  they  compelled  Him  to  go  one  mile  to  the 
judgment-hall.  He  went  with  them  twain,  even  unto 
Calvary.  But  what  was  His  argument?  Pity  for 
Malchus?  Not  only  that.  What  stirred  Him  to 
the  miracle  was  a  sense  of  the  peril  to  Peter's  own  life. 
It  was  not  the  cruelty  of  the  sword  only  but  the 
wastage  of  the  sword  that  He  condemned.  As  Jesus 
foretold,  Peter  did  perish  ultimately  by  cold  steel; 
but  our  Lord  saved  his  intervening  years.  The 
Christians  who  fled  into  the  mountains  were  no  shirk- 
ers. They  were  good  troops,  taking  cover,  and  thou- 
sands of  them  endured  a  hideous  martyrdom.  If,  in 
that  judgment-hall,  Jesus  had  returned  blow  for  blow, 
then,  humanly  speaking.  He  would  have  died  an  easier 
death  than  the  cross,  but  He  could  never  have  said, 


192  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

as  He  did,  "  It  is  finished."  To  finish  one's  course  is 
the  ideal;  to  keep  the  faith  is  to  be  ready  for  death — 
but  only  as  the  last  enemy  to  be  conquered.  He 
aimed  not  merely  at  overcoming  Evil,  but  at  over- 
coming it  with  Good. 

Christ  and  War. 

And  this  explains  why  Jesus  never  denounced  war, 
whether  past  or  future.  He  knew  that  He  Himself 
was  raising  issues  which  would  fling  men  into  the 
fighting-line.  When  the  centurion  came  to  Him, 
He  did  not  call  upon  him  to  lay  down  his  arms,  but 
healed  his  servant.  The  profession  of  soldier  was 
to  Him  neither  better  nor  worse  than  the  profession 
of  tax-gatherer,  farmer,  or  fisherman.  For  the  laws 
of  a  State  were  to  Him  an  expression  of  God's  law. 
The  gift  on  the  altar — that  is,  religion — is  no  payment 
of  an  overdue  debt  to  a  neighbor — that  is,  justice. 
The  judge  is  right  to  enforce  that  debt,  and  the  debtor 
is  not  free  to  complete  his  bequest  for  religion  until 
the  uttermost  farthing  has  been  paid  where  due.  The 
dispensation  of  justice  precedes  the  dispensation  of 
grace,  and  the  one  must  be  satisfied  before  the  other 
can  be  enjoyed.  Hence  the  judge,  hence  the  officer, 
hence  the  prison — all  stamped  with  our  Saviour's  un- 
mistakable "  Verily."  Hence  His  whip  of  cords  which 
twice  cleansed  the  Temple  of  the  money-changers. 
Hence  armies,  hence  navies,  which  must  continue  un- 
til He  reigns  in  the  heart. 

Twice,  I  say,  not  once.  How  quickly  those  tables 
were  set  up  again!  On  the  one  hand,  He  authorized 
the  use  of  force  against  evil;  on  the  other  hand.  He 
showed  how  little  is  achieved  thereby.  For  it  was 
that  money   from  those  tables — twice   overturned — 


THE  JUDGMENTS  OF  CHRIST  193 

that  bribed  Judas  to  betray  Him.  And  it  was  only 
when  He  had  won  men's  hearts  that  they  laid  all  their 
possessions  at  the  Apostles'  feet.  We  do  well  to  defend 
the  weak  and  correct  abuses.  But  in  His  presence 
the  weak  do  not  need  defense,  and  abuses  cannot  raise 
their  head.  A  woman  in  imminent  peril  of  her  hfe 
was  brought  to  our  Lord.  He  did  not  strike  one  blow 
in  her  defense,  but  wrote  on  the  ground,  and  she  was 
safe.  It  is  as  He  writes  His  law  on  our  conscience 
that  we  also  go  in  peace. 


XXVII 
OUR  SAVIOUR  AND  SUFFERING 

Christ's  Works  and  the  "  Greater  Things  " — The  Divine  Pro- 
cedure— For  Soul  as  well  as  Body. 

OF  our  Lord's  many  miracles,  we  have  only  a  par- 
ticular record  of  thirty-three — one,  that  is,  for 
every  year  of  His  life,  one  for  every  month  of  His 
ministry.  Over  the  winds  and  waves,  over  plagues 
like  leprosy,  over  fevers  and  diseases,  over  infirmities 
of  the  eye  and  the  ear, — whether  inherited  or  con- 
tracted,— and  even  over  wounds  like  a  severed  ear. 
His  prerogative  was  absolute.  It  extended  to  the 
growth  of  trees,  the  movement  of  fishes,  the  processes 
of  chemistry,  which  transmute  liquids  like  water  into 
wine  and  solids  like  flour  into  bread;  and  to  coinci- 
dences, like  the  penny  found  in  a  fish's  mouth.  To 
that  prerogative,  animals  like  swine  were  subject,  and 
the  devils  themselves. 

Yet  embracing  all  nature,  animate  and  inanimate, 
the  prerogative  was  sparingly  invoked.  Our  Lord  al- 
ways displayed  a  reverent  consideration  for  the  estab- 
lished order  of  the  world.  While  He  walked  on  the 
water,  He  did  not  abolish  the  laws  of  gravity.  Peter 
at  once  fell  when  the  link  of  faith  between  him  and  the 
Almighty  was  broken.    While  He  stilled  the. tempest, 

194 


OUR  SAVIOUR  AND  SUFFERING        195 

He  left  the  world  with  air  to  breathe,  and  so  taught  us 
that  our  life  depends  even  on  the  hurricane.  He  made 
wine  out  of  water,  not  out  of  nothing;  and  in  feeding 
the  multitudes,  He  used  what  loaves  and  fishes  there 
were,  however  few,  and  the  fragments  that  remained 
over  were  carefully  preserved  for  the  future.  When 
He  observed  His  last  Passover,  He  sent  His  disciples 
to  prepare  that  sacred  meal  in  the  usual  way;  and 
while,  on  one  occasion,  He  found  a  coin  by  His  omnis- 
cience, the  money  in  Judas  Iscariot's  bag  was  collected 
by  ordinary  methods.  H  people  had  not  given  it,, 
humanly  speaking,  He  and  His  missionaries  would 
have  starved.  In  all  His  works,  His  object  was  not  to 
relieve  us  of  our  responsibilities.  His  religion  was  not- 
legerdemain.  He  left  us  still  to  live  our  humdrum 
lives,  but  showed  what  a  difference  His  presence 
makes  in  the  kitchen,  the  counting-house,  the  ocean- 
liner,  and  the  railway  train.  Environment  remains, 
but  He  rules  it. 

Christ's  Works  and  the  "  Greater  Things." 

So  it  was  that  He  dealt  with  the  solemn  mysteries 
of  pain  and  death.  He  did  not,  by  putting  an  end  to 
disease,  give  immortality  to  our  bodies  as  we  know 
them.  I  doubt  whether  His  ministry  made  any 
appreciable  difference  to  the  census  returns  of  the 
Roman  Empire.  All  those  who  were  raised  from 
their  beds  or  from  the  tomb  ultimately  fell  ill  again 
or  otherwise  died.  What  He  granted  to  them  was 
what  He  grants  to  us — a  brief  postponement,  which 
shall  teach  that  our  times  are  in  God's  hands.  When 
He  came,  He  found  that  men  and  women  were — so  to 
say — beaten  by  their  sufferings,  by  their  hunger,  by 
storms,  and  by  circumstances.     The  love  of  God  was 


196  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

obscured.  People  clutched  at  charms,  and  luck,  and 
quackery,  and  hypnotism.  The  Redeemer,  stimulat- 
ing courage,  enlightening  the  reason,  kindling  love, 
led  us  again  into  the  fight  against  our  foes.  The  fire- 
brigade,  the  lifeboat,  the  orphanage,  the  hospital,  arose 
out  of  His  inspiration,  and  are  among  the  greater 
things  that  He  promised  us  because  He  was  to  go  to 
the  Father.  By  such  means,  the  waste  of  life  is  grad- 
ually reduced.  Pain  and  death  are  brought  into  line 
with  the  Divine  purpose.  Our  opportunities  in  this 
world  are  won  back  for  us;  and  it  is  not  by  violence, 
nor  prematurely,  that  we  pass  beyond,  but  by  orderly 
process,  as  Lazarus  or  the  little  maid,  in  His  words, 
went  to  sleep.  Death,  with  its  terrors,  becomes  a 
gentle  drawing  of  the  curtain  at  nightfall,  as  when  a 
child  goes  to  bed  to  dream  of  the  dawn. 

In  rendering  special  help,  He  was  at  times  deliberate 
— as  when  He  waited  three  days  before  coming  to 
Lazarus;  and  at  other  times  He  was  prompt — as  when 
in  a  minute  or  two  He  raised  the  widow's  son  at  Nain. 
In  some  cases,  people  made  appeal  to  Him,  but  not  in 
all.  He  it  was  who  discovered  the  lame  man  at  the 
pool  of  Bethesda  and  raised  him  to  his  feet;  it  was 
a  definite,  selective  act.  Yet  there  was  no  injustice 
to  the  great  multitude  of  impotent  folk — blind,  halt, 
and  withered — who  received  no  assistance.  They 
saw  Him,  they  heard  Him,  but  they  did  not  desire 
anything  of  Him,  preferring  "  the  moving  of  the 
water  "  to  the  moving  of  His  heart.  They  made  their 
choice,  A  man  who  had  faith  was  healed,  but  on 
superstition  no  blessing  was  bestowed. 

It  was  not  Bethesda,  but  Christ's  presence  at 
Bethesda,  that  brought  the  miracle.  And  if  there 
are  wonders  at  Lourdes  for  those  who  credit  them,  I 


OUR  SAVIOUR  AND  SUFFERING        197 

would  say — it  is  not  Lourdes  that  heals,  but  only 
Christ,  and  He  can  heal  us  anywhere.  Nor,  for  us 
who  are  Protestants,  is  there  special  help  in  any  par- 
ticular church  or  chapel,  or  in  the  preaching  of  any 
particular  clergyman  or  minister.  The  only  thing  that 
matters  to  us,  when  we  need  help,  is  that  we  should  see 
Him;  and  when  He  leaves  Bethesda,  whatever  Be- 
thesda  may  be,  the  place  becomes  once  more  a  mere  pool 
— no  more  sacred  than  the  Thames  or  the  Ganges. 

The  Divine  Procedure. 

Again:  He  limited  His  help  strictly  to  what  was 
actually  required  of  Him.  The  leper  was  cleansed, 
but  the  priest  had  to  certify  the  fact.  The  paralytic 
was  cured,  but  he  had  to  be  brought  by  his  friends, 
and  he  was  told  to  carry  back  his  bed.  When  the 
temperature  of  Peter's  wife's  mother  became  normal, 
so  did  her  household  duties.  He  awakened  the  little 
maid,  but  they  had  to  give  her  something  to  eat. 
He  summoned  Lazarus  from  the  tomb,  but  his  friends 
unwound  the  grave-clothes.  He  did  not  shatter  God's 
laws  of  nature  and  duty.  On  the  contrary,  He  taught 
us  that  God's  laws  are  God's  will,  a  personal  rule, 
maintained  from  moment  to  moment — not  by  dull 
routine,  but  by  His  good  pleasure.  In  thus  interrupt- 
ing the  routine  of  nature,  He  disclosed  the  Authority 
behind  it. 

To  our  Redeemer  there  came  at  last  the  supreme 
question  whether  He  would  or  would  not  invoke  the 
Divine  prerogative  on  His  own  behalf.  The  human 
race  lay  under  the  shadow  of  death;  would  He,  as 
Son  of  Man  and  Son  of  God,  exercise  His  power,  and 
so  escape?  When  He  knelt  in  the  Garden  of  Geth- 
semane,  this  was  one  of  the  issues — not,  I  think,  the 


198  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

only  one — that  wrung  from  His  brow  the  moisture, 
like  drops  of  blood.  He  had  not  known  one  day  of 
illness,  one  pang  of  pain,  but  the  actuality  of  suffering 
was  no  secret  from  Him.  He  knew,  in  advance,  what 
would  be  the  agony  of  head,  of  hands,  of  feet,  and  of 
heart,  and  His  whole  being  craved  for  deliverance — 
"  Let  this  cup  pass  from  Me."  But  only  on  conditions. 
H  He  was  thus  to  avoid  the  cup,  it  meant,  either  that 
we  also  must  escape,  or  that,  in  our  suffering.  He  must 
be  separated  from  us.  Having  loved  His  own,  He 
loved  them  unto  the  end.  In  all  our  affliction  He 
must  needs  be  afflicted.  He  had  already  foreseen 
that  His  followers  would  suffer  many  things  and  even 
lose  their  lives  for  Him.  His  question  was  already 
answered.  "  Not  My  will,"  said  He,  "  but  Thine  be 
done."  It  was  not,  as  some  have  thought,  that  He 
had  no  will  apart  from  His  Father's.  His  will  was 
free  as  ours,  but  He  surrendered  it.  He  used  no 
miracle  to  save  Himself. 

For  Soul  as  well  as  Body. 

That  decision  has  shaken  the  world.  Many  are 
the  people  who,  in  every  age,  cry  out  to  be  healed. 
Our  Lord's  disciples  counted  it  all  joy  to  suft'er  with 
Him  what  He  had  suffered  for  them.  As  He  refused 
deliverance  for  their  sakes,  so  do  they  refuse  it  for  His 
sake.  In  the  Hebrews,  where  the  tests  of  faith  mount 
up  to  a  climax,  the  height  of  heroism  is — not  stopping 
the  mouths  of  lions,  not  victory  over  the  armies  of 
aliens,  not  triumphs  over  fire,  but  torture  that  was  not 
stopped,  mocking  and  scourging,  temptation  and  the 
sword — the  not  receiving  of  the  promise.  As  Jesus 
prayed  three  times  that  the  cup  pass  from  Him,  so  did 
Paul  pray  three  times   that   the  thorn  be   removed 


OUR  SAVIOUR  AND  SUFFERING        199 

from  his  flesh;  yet  he  added,  Hke  the  Saviour,  that 
God's  will  must  be  done.  We  see  the  disciples  in  terror 
amidst  the  tempest,  and  saved  by  a  miracle.  We  see 
Paul,  a  prisoner,  the  one  cool  man  in  a  shipwreck. 
Beautiful  may  have  been  the  picture  of  the  sick  and 
suffering  who  crowded  around  the  Christ,  and  were 
healed;  but  nobler  far  is  the  silence  of  the  hospital, 
where  in  skill,  in  service,  and  in  anguish  His  Spirit 
rules  supreme  over  soul  as  well  as  body. 

Whether  physical  miracles  have  or  have  not  ceased, 
it  is  not  for  me  to  say.  For  all  I  know — for  all  you 
know — our  Saviour  is  honoring  faith  by  arresting 
disease  as  frequently  as  ever  He  did  in  the  days  of 
His  earthly  life.  But  let  us  remember  that  He  has 
deliberately  changed  the  situation.  He  is  no  longer 
present  with  us  in  the  body,  but  in  the  spirit.  He 
teaches  us  that  the  body  is  only  sacred  as  the  vesture 
of  the  soul.  He  dealt  with  disease  as  a  symbol  of 
sin.  The  pain  which  follows  sin  was  to  Him  a  symbol 
of  the  guilt  that  follows  sin.  In  curing  disease  and 
in  alleviating  pain  He  was  frankly  teaching  us — He 
said  so — His  power  to  remove  sin  and  pardon  guilt. 
That  power  asserted,  it  may  well  be  that  the  symbol 
is  fulfilled.  I  see  in  the  Christ  not  only  One  who 
worked  wonders,  but  One  who  refused  to  work  them. 

So  far  from  making  much  of  those  whom  He  healed 
in  the  flesh,  our  Lord  permitted  them,  one  and  all,  to 
pass  into  oblivion,  their  very  names  unknown,  save 
of  a  very  few,  like  Bartimaeus  and  Lazarus  and 
Malchus.  He  chose  as  His  Apostles  not  those  whom 
He  rescued  from  physical  disease  and  death,  but  men 
in  the  prime  of  life,  sound  in  body  and  mind,  and 
successful  in  their  various  callings.  Simon  and  An- 
drew were  fishers,  and  more  than  once  they  returned 


200  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

to  their  trade.  James  and  John  left  their  father, 
Zebedee,  in  the  boat  with  the  hired  servants,  and  were 
thus  employers  of  labor.  Matthew,  the  tax-gatherer, 
was  rich.  There  is  no  suggestion  that  any  of  the 
other  Apostles  were  incapable  of  holding  their  own 
in  the  world.  The  men  that  He  enlisted  were  men  of 
military  age,  who  could  pass  the  doctor.  For  them  He 
opened  up  a  wide  career  in  which  they  were  to  make, 
not  money,  but  history. 

They  were  to  be  fishers  of  men.  They  were  to  know 
the  long  night  of  toil  when  they  would  catch  nothing. 
The  disciples  were  to  see  the  Saviour  in  the  dawn, 
and  were  to  learn  that  He  it  is  who  fills  the  nets  until 
they  break — those  nets  which,  with  Him  on  the  shore, 
had  so  often  to  be  mended.  And  what  worried  Peter 
was  not  leprosy  of  the  hand,  but  of  the  heart.  He  was 
like  the  man  possessed  of  a  demon,  who  begged  Jesus 
to  go  away  because  he  knew  who  He  was.  But,  while 
he  threw  himself  into  the  waters  of  remorse,  every 
stroke  that  he  struck  for  safety  brought  him,  so 
strangely  baptized,  nearer  to  that  gracious  and  helpful 
Person  who  was  to  be  his  Guide,  from  that  day  on- 
ward, even  unto  death.  To  Peter  and  his  friends,  con- 
version meant  a  new  landscape.  It  opened  vistas  of 
achievement  previously  unimaginable.  The  winds  and 
the  waves,  the  boat  and  the  nets,  the  clinking  coin, 
were  all  suddenly  illuminated  by  a  Presence,  who  was 
sight  to  the  eyes,  hearing  to  the  ears,  speech  to  the 
dumb,  and  life  to  the  dead.  And  when,  in  later  years, 
they  wrote  of  the  ^^edeemer,  their  amazement  over  the 
particular  miracles  that  they  had  seen  was  gradually 
dissolved  in  a  deeper  and  more  reverent  wonder  at  the 
glory  of  Him  who  lived  in  their  souls,  a  greater 
Miracle  Himself  than  all  He  accomplished  among  men. 


XXVIII 
THE  MASTER  AND  THE  TWELVE 

The   Commission   "  Go " — The   Snare  of   Personal   Success — 
"  Nothing  that  is  not  His  best." 

MOSES  enrolled  twelve  tribes  for  conquest,  but 
while  they  mastered  the  Canaanites,  they 
did  not  obliterate  evil.  Our  Lord  began  His  work, 
not  with  twelve  tribes,  but  with  twelve  men,  undis- 
tinguished by  genius,  and  some  of  them  so  unlearned 
that  their  very  pronunciation  was  defective.  He  did 
not  send  them  to  college,  or  teach  them  theology,  as 
we  read  it  to-day.  He  said  no  word  to  them  about 
architecture  and  organs  and  choirs  and  painted 
windows  and  ritual,  but  kept  them  near  to  Himself, 
where  they  could  best  learn — first,  the  need  of  the' 
people;  and,  secondly,  the  Redeemer's  power  to 
save.  The  kind  of  subject  that  He  discussed  with 
them  was  not  the  unknown  and  undiscoverable  origin 
of  a  manuscript,  however  interesting  might  be  that 
matter  to  the  curious,  but  real  questions,  affecting 
our  happiness — as,  for  instance,  whether  His  Gospel 
is  suitable  for  children  or  only  for  grown-up  people; 
and  why  miracles  depend  on  prayer,  which  is  an 
approach  to  God,  and  fasting,  which  is  a  denial  of 

201 


202  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

self;  and  what  the  parables  meant.  Some  of  these 
twelve  men  became  famous;  others  are  only  names 
to  us.  But  all  alike  started  with  average  abilities, 
as  if  He  would  show  us  by  their  example  how  much 
He  can  make  of  anyone  who  submits  to  the  rules  of 
His  companionship.  He  even  declared  that  these 
true  disciples  of  His  would  one  day  occupy  thrones, 
and  judge  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel,  thus  sharing 
His  own  glory.  To  us,  a  leader  of  men  is  he  who  can 
obtain  the  votes  of  men.  He  knew  that  the  real 
leader  is  he  who  has  a  vision  of  God. 

The  Commission  "  Go." 

He  did  not  shut  up  His  followers  in  monasteries, 
or  bid  them  spend  years  in  a  theological  seminary, 
but  He  stirred  them  at  once  to  deliberate  initiative. 
Having  been  disciples  who  were  taught,  they  became 
apostles  who  were  sent.  "  Go  "  was  His  first  word 
to  them  after  their  call;  "Go"  was  again  His  last 
word  to  them  before  He  ascended.  Go,  not  into  the 
study  or  pulpit  or  university  as  such,  but  into  the 
world,  among  the  people;  enter  their  homes,  tell 
them  the  News,  heal  them,  cleanse  them.  Freely  ye 
have  received,  freely  give.  Go  first  to  the  nation 
you  know  well;  go  afterwards  to  all  nations.  Be 
ambitious.  Let  your  quest  absorb  every  power — the 
soul  that  asks  in  reverence;  the  intellect  that  seeks 
with  patience;  the  body  that  knocks  with  energy. 
Yet  in  all  your  hopes  recognize  Another  beside  your- 
self. Let  your  happiness  be  a  gift,  granted  by  God's 
goodness;  a  treasure,  found  by  His  guidance;  a  home, 
thrown  open  to  you  by  His  love.  But  let  all  your 
initiative  be  hallowed  by  reverence.  Asking  is  not 
demanding,  seeking  is  not  snatching,  knocking  is  not 


THE  MASTER  AND  THE  TWELVE      203 

house-breaking.  Be  not  like  robbers,  who  climb  up 
another  way  into  the  sheep  fold — whose  religion  is  a 
cloak  for  self-will — but  understand  that  every  quest, 
duly  made  with  the  whole  being  of  man,  has  an 
immediate  reward.  All  who  ask,  receive ;  all  who  seek, 
find;  to  all  who  knock,  it  is  opened.  Even  in  the 
world,  if  men  and  women  have  an  aim  and  resolutely 
pursue  it,  they  usually  get  what  they  want — sometimes 
good,  sometimes  bad.  But  in  His  kingdom  everything 
worth  having  is  free  to  everybody.  As  St.  Paul  put 
it,  we  have  all  in  Christ. 

The  Kingdom  of  Heaven  was  not  a  half-empty 
church,  very  dull  and  very  respectable.  It  was  a 
territory  that  suffered  violence,  and  the  violent  took 
it  by  force.  It  is  a  place  where  Salvationism,  Social- 
ism, Tolstoyism — any  ism  that  submits  to  the  One 
Master — may  raise  its  voice.  The  complaint  of  our 
Lord  was  that  the  disciples  were  so  slow  to  ask  any- 
thing in  His  Name.  Whatsoever  ye  thus  ask,  He  de- 
clared, I  will  do  it.  If  two  or  three  of  you  agree  on  a 
matter,  whatever  it  be,  you  will  prevail  with  the  Al- 
mighty. The  letters  of  these  words  were  as  carefully 
chosen  as  the  phrases  of  a  title-deed.  The  promise  is 
limitless,  but  the  conditions  are  exact.  If  prayer  is  to 
be  effective,  it  must  be  made,  not  in  the  name  of  a 
patriarch,  as  was  the  custom  of  the  Jews,  or  of  a 
saint,  as  is  sometimes  the  custom  of  Catholic  Chris- 
tians, nor  must  we  put  our  own  desires  into  the  form 
of  a  prayer,  and  of  necessity  expect  an  answer;  we 
must  pray  in  the  Saviour's  Name,  which  means  that  we 
must  only  offer  prayer  for  what  He  would  Himself 
pray  if  He  were  in  our  position.  In  drawing  our 
checks  on  the  bank  of  faith,  we  must  not  forget 
that  without  His  endorsement  they  are  mere  scraps 


«04  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

of  paper.  Our  profits,  our  luxuries,  our  pleasures, 
our  whims,  are  all  excluded  by  that  test,  and  let  us 
never  forget  that  the  test  is  social.  He  safeguards 
prayer  against  idiosyncrasy,  selfishness,  and  mono- 
mania. When  we  pray,  can  we  find  some  other 
of  our  Lord's  friends,  as  intimate  with  Him  as  we 
are,  who  will  with  his  whole  soul  join  us  in  our  petition 
to  the  Great  King?  You  wish  a  life  to  be  spared. 
Are  you  certain  that  your  doctor,  who  has  so  often 
seen  the  sufferings  of  a  long  illness,  is  equally  eager 
thus  to  urge  Providence?  You  want  a  war-bonus  on 
wages.  Have  you  considered  that  your  prayer  may 
inflict  hardship  on  those  who,  less  well  organized  than 
you  are  in  your  mine,  need  their  coal  this  winter? 
Do  you  pray  to  our  Father,  as  of  a  family,  or  to  my 
Father,  as  if  you  were  His  only  child?  To  every 
Act  there  is  the  Royal  Assent,  but  no  Bill  becomes 
an  Act  unless  it  be  with  the  consent  of  Lords  and 
Commons.  The  preliminaries  must  be  observed.  The 
two  must  agree.  And  with  prayer  also,  the  assent 
of  the  Almighty  is  the  final  act  which  crowns  obedience 
to  His  will. 

The  disciples  themselves  had  to  learn  this,  James 
and  John,  relying  not  on  His  Name,  but  on  a  mother's 
pride,  asked  to  sit,  the  one  on  His  right  and  the  other 
on  His  left  hand,  in  His  Kingdom.  They  only  saw 
the  glory  of  temporal  power,  and  did  not  perceive 
its  responsibilities,  its  perils,  its  suffering  and  weari- 
ness. After  He  had  risen  from  the  dead,  His  disciples 
begged  Him  to  disclose  the  date  on  which  that  Kingdom 
would  be  set  up.  They  discovered  that  in  the  Court 
of  the  King  of  kings  there  are  no  back  stairs  whereby 
men  may  clamber  into  preferment,  and  that  the 
majesty  of  the  Almighty  reserves  to  itself  the  State 


THE  MASTER  AND  THE  TWELVE      205 

secrets  of  Omniscience.  Ours  it  is  to  return  to 
Galilee — to  do  our  duty  and,  if  need  be,  to  suffer, 
knowing  not  the  times  and  seasons,  and  reckoning 
not  the  reward.  Believing  as  I  do  in  prophecy  and 
its  fulfillment,  I  cannot  but  think  that  if  we  had  all 
remembered  what  He  said  about  not  knowing  par-' 
ticular  dates  of  His  coming,  we  should  have  been 
preserved  from  speculations  which  have  gravely 
discredited  the  authority  of  Scripture  among  the 
careless  and  often  caused  trouble  among  the  saints. 

The  Snare  of  Personal  Success. 

On  these  terms,  the  only  results  of  His  mission 
were  apparent  failure  and  a  cruel  death.  Yet  His 
disciples  constantly  discussed  and  even  quarreled 
over  the  question  who  among  them  should  be  the 
greatest.  Even  in  His  presence  there  arose  those 
ambitions  in  pursuit  of  which  monarchs  have  desolated 
continents,  men  of  science  have  sacrificed  ease  and 
comfort,  athletes  and  explorers  have  hardened  every 
fiber  of  their  being,  captains  of  commerce  have 
tightened  their  purse-strings,  and  politicians,  not  less 
arduously,  have  courted  the  multitude.  There,  as 
they  walked  with  Him,  those  men — imagining  that 
they  had  left  all  to  follow  Him — displayed  that  passion 
for  personal  success  which  to-day  too  often  animates 
the  Pulpit,  the  Press,  the  Legislature,  Society,  and 
War  itself.  We  advertise  one  another,  covet  titles  and 
decorations,  and  are  puffed  up  and  flattered  by  the 
camera.  It  is  this  rivalry  between  man  and  man,  as 
transferred  to  nation  and  nation,  that  deluges  civiliza- 
tion in  blood.  Our  Lord  foresaw  it.  He  knew  that 
peoples  would  rise  against  peoples.  He  noticed  how 
the  princes  of  the  Gentiles  exercise  authority.     What 


g06  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

we  call  Prussianism  was  no  surprise  to  Him.  And 
He  condemned  it.  "  It  shall  not  be  so,"  said  He, 
"  among  yon." 

Political  and  ecclesiastical  preferment,  on  which 
we  count  so  much,  lies  wholly  outside  His  scheme  of 
service.  Twice  at  least  did  He  tell  His  disciples  that 
the  first  would  be  last  and  the  last  first;  nor  was  it  an 
empty  paradox.  Slowly  but  surely  the  often  tragic 
history  of  mankind  has  driven  home  His  lesson,  that 
the  satrap,  if  he  is  to  be  tolerated,  must  become  a  civil 
servant,  and  that  a  priest  is  one  who  renders  help. 
The  most  powerful  statesman  in  the  greatest  of  Em- 
pires is  to-day  no  Csesar,  or  Imperator,  or  Sultan,  or 
Maharajah,  displaying  the  ensigns  of  force  and  the 
regalia  of  plunder.  He  is  the  Prime  Minister — the 
one  whose  duty  and  office  it  is  not  to  be  ministered 
unto  but  to  minister.  The  men  who  to-day  govern 
the  most  dazzling  of  all  Asiatic  empires  affect  no  trap- 
pings of  Oriental  magnificence,  but  are  clothed  simply 
as  civilians.  The  wisdom  of  Christ  thus  works  as  an 
inevitable  law  among  men  who  may  seldom  mention 
His  Name.  He  controls  the  great,  so  that  the  heir 
to  the  most  stable  throne  in  the  world  acts  by  the 
motto,  leh  Dien — "  I  serve  " ;  while  the  rest  of  us, 
in  our  narrower  lives,  are  healed  of  our  pompousness, 
our  silly  pretensions,  our  toadying,  as  it  is  called, 
and  become  in  Him  of  a  right  royal  dignity.  In 
science,  in  art,  in  business,  in  every  walk  of  life,  the 
greatest  is  he  who  submits  himself — not  indeed  to  his 
fellow-men,  for  it  was  no  system  of  mastership  and 
slavery  that  our  Lord  set  up — but  to  truth,  to  patient 
study,  to  duty,  to  the  will  of  God,  however  made 
known.  It  is  serving  without  servility;  and  if  we  are 
teachable   people,    we   cannot   expect   honors   greater 


THE  MASTER  AND  THE  TWELVE      207 

than  our  teachers.     Whatever  was  refused  to  Him 
should  not  be  sought  by  us. 

For  nineteen  hundred  years  we  have  seen  how 
seldom  the  great  ones  accept  Him.  In  one  of  His 
parables — of  the  marriage-feast — our  Saviour,  know- 
ing all  things,  pictured  what  still  happens.  The  man 
who  belongs  to  a  county  family  thinks  first  of  his 
land;  a  second,  who  is  in  trade,  is  absorbed  by  his 
farm  or  merchandise;  and  a  third  lives  for  domestic 
ease — for  his  wife,  whom  he  might  have  taken  to  the 
feast,  but  instead  reserves  for  his  own  sole  enjoyment. 
Ill  indeed  has  been  society's  treatment  of  God's 
messengers.  His  Bible  and  those  who  preach  it — 
how  seldom  are  they  honored;  how  often  are  they 
sneered  at  with  contempt!  If  the  ambassadors  of  the 
Almighty  are  warned  against  anger,  it  is  only  because 
a  greater  wrath  at  these  things  than  theirs  fills  the 
loving  heart  of  their  Father.  He  sends  forth  armies, 
He  destroys  those  murderers,  He  burns  their  cities. 
Not  one  of  them  comes  to  the  feast,  for  not  one  of 
them  was  worthy.  He  judged  them,  not  by  what  they 
possessed,  but  by  what  they  appreciated.  They  kept 
their  lands,  their  trade,  their  homes;  they  lost,  be- 
cause they  despised  the  joy  of  life. 

"  Nothing  that  is  not  His  best." 

Although  His  guests  came  from  the  highways  and 
the  hedges,  being  vagrants  who  have  no  rest  save  at 
His  table,  and  were  halt  and  maimed  and  blind — that 
is,  people  whom  life  has  injured — He  offers  them  the 
fare  made  ready  for  the  noblest.  Like  a  great  doctor, 
He  gives  to  the  poorest  of  us  nothing  that  is  not  His 
best.  He  provides  us  with  a  wedding  garment — His 
own  righteousness,  or  habit  of  mind — and  only  asks 


208  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

that  we  put  it  on ;  for  there  is  no  place  at  His  banquet- 
ing house  for  the  man  who  comes  there  self-satisfied, 
as  if  conferring  a  favor  on  the  Redeemer.  It  is  an 
occasion  of  exquisite  courtesy  and  thoughtfulness 
towards  Him  and  towards  others — the  whole  Law  (or 
duty),  the  whole  Prophecy  (or  outlook)  being  summed 
up  in  love  for  God  and  love  for  one's  neighbor  as 
oneself.  Nor  is  the  wedding  garment — the  right  habit 
of  life — enough.  The  lamp,  or  symbol  of  religion, 
which  we  carry  in  our  hands  for  all  the  world  to  see, 
must  be,  not  empty,  but  full  of  oil — the  oil  of  a  grate- 
ful gladness;  so  that  the  lamp  is  visible  by  night  as 
well  as  by  day,  not  only  beautiful  in  design,  but 
shining.  The  oil  is  ever  available;  there  is  no  license 
needed  for  its  purchase.  Indeed,  we  have  but  to  take 
it,  and  if  we  fail  to  do  this,  no  after-attempt  to  buy  it, 
by  sacrifice  and  eflFort,  will  avail  us.  The  oil  is  a  gift, 
or  we  have  it  not.  And  that  lamp  should  be  full  which 
is  to  burn  through  the  long  night. 

Thus  sensitive  and  thus  solemn  is  the  Romance  of 
our  Salvation;  thus  delicately  responsive  to  right  and 
wrong  impulse  is  our  happiness  in  Christ,  If  you 
begin,  says  He,  be  ready  to  finish.  Count  the  cost. 
It  is  a  tower  of  strength  and  refuge  that,  with  My 
help,  you  are  building.  It  is  a  country  that,  by  My 
grace,  you  are  conquering.  It  is  a  field  that,  for 
My  sake,  you  are  plowing.  It  is  a  marriage  that  you 
are  celebrating — and  marriage  is  indissoluble. 


XXIX 

LIGHT  CHALLENGES  DARKNESS 

Nicodemus  in  Two  Parts — Christ's  Prudence  and  Tact— Christ 
and  Miracle. 

THE  death  of  Christ — the  supreme  drama  of 
history — was  prophesied.  Many  nations  in 
distress  have  yearned  for  a  dehverer  who  would 
triumph.  Isaiah,  who  predicted  the  coming  of  the  one 
Redeemer,  also  announced  that  He  would  be  despised 
and  rejected.  In  those  two  words,  chosen  with  the 
exquisite  accuracy  of  Scripture,  is  summed  up  that 
hostility  to  our  Lord  which  was  at  first  latent  and 
afterwards  avowed.  By  his  inspired  prevision,  the 
prophet  foresaw,  not  only  the  splendor  of  the  Messiah, 
but  the  depravity  of  men  and  women  who  would  slay 
Him.  Until  people  themselves  are  good,  how  can 
goodness  be  popular? 

Not  for  one  instant  did  Jesus  misjudge  the  enmity 
of  the  Jews.  Before  the  evil  impulse  had  been  dis- 
closed, He  declined  to  commit  Himself  to  the  chief 
priests  at  Jerusalem.  He  found  more  faith  in  Galilee, 
the  region  of  duty,  than  in  the  Temple,  consecrated 
to  religion.  Peter,  the  fisherman,  was  ready  to  fling 
himself  openly  at  the  Saviour's  feet,  whereas  Nico- 
demus, the  politician,  came  to  Him  by  night,  as  if  he 

209 


210  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

must  calculate  consequences  before  publicly  associating 
himself  with  a  Teacher  sent  from  God.  Jesus  believed 
not  in  night  work  but  in  day  work.  He  suspected 
every  deed  of  darkness.  The  cowardice  of  Nicodemus, 
the  fruitless  fishing  of  His  disciples,  the  treachery  of 
Judas,  and  the  denials  of  Peter,  were  all  of  the  night. 
It  was  when  men  slept  that  Satan  sowed  his  tares. 
The  night  side  of  our  cities  was  what  He  came  to 
redeem.  It  was  the  night  that  He  constantly  attacked 
by  prayer;  they  who  dared  not  arrest  Him  in  the 
day  chose  the  night  for  their  plot,  and  the  triumph  of 
His  resurrection  lay  in  this — that  by  it  He  conquered, 
not  death  alone,  but  darkness.  When  He  saved  men, 
He  needed  no  shaded  lamps,  no  soft  music,  no  seance, 
no  Delphic  oracle.  He  exposed  His  gospel  to  the  full 
light  of  day.  He  would  have  it  proclaimed  from  the 
housetops.  He  was  against  a  whispered  creed ;  He  had 
no  use  for  learned  and  incomprehensible  formulae. 

Nicodemus  in  Two  Parts. 

To  Nicodemus,  the  master  in  Israel,  Jesus  declared 
bluntly  that  he  could  not  even  see  the  Kingdom  of 
God;  he  could  not  dimly  appreciate  the  secret  of 
happiness  unless  he  be  born  again,  born  of  the  water 
of  repentance  and  the  spirit  of  consecration;  unless 
he  looked  up  to  the  Christ,  not  as  a  Teacher  only,  but 
as  a  Saviour,  just  as  the  Israelites,  bitten  of  serpents, 
looked  up  to  the  ensign  of  sin  expiated  which  Moses 
raised  in  the  wilderness.  All  this  glittering  worship 
at  Jersalem  was  merely  a  mirage  in  the  old  and  still 
untraversed  desert,  with  its  Sinai,  it  manna,  its 
golden  calf,  and  its  poisonous  reptiles.  For  Nico- 
demus, there  could  be  no  promised  land — indeed,  no 
Pisgah,  from  which  he  could  see  the  promised  land — 


LIGHT  CHALLENGES  DARKNESS       211 

unless  he  took  his  place  humbly  among  the  guilty  and 
the  perishing. 

What  Nicodemus  answered,  we  only  know  by  the 
sequel.  When  the  Sanhedrin  discussed  the  first 
attempt  to  arrest  our  Lord,  suddenly  this  once-timid 
trimmer  stood  forth  alone,  and  asked  by  what  law 
any  man  is  condemned  unheard.  "  Art  thou  also  of 
Galilee?"  they  cried.  "Search  and  look,  for  out  of 
Galilee  ariseth  no  prophet."  They  were  mistaken,  for 
it  was  on  a  Galilean  mountain  that  Elijah  built  his 
altar  and  called  down  fire  thereon  from  heaven. 
It  was  over  Zebulun  and  Naphtali  that  the  Light  was 
to  shine.  To  this  they  were  blinded  by  the  bitter 
jealousy  between  Jerusalem  and  Galilee — between 
creed  and  conduct,  between  the  scribes  and  the  com- 
mon people — which  continues  unto  this  day. 

The  love  of  Nicodemus  for  Christ,  though  still  un- 
confessed,  could  be  no  longer  concealed.  And  when, 
a  year  or  two  later,  all  had  forsaken  Jesus  and  fled, 
this  man  allied  himself  boldly  with  Joseph  of  Ari- 
mathea,  and  brought  no  less  than  one  hundred  pounds 
weight  of  spices  for  the  burial  of  the  Master;  his  gift 
suggesting  that  he  did  not  believe  in  the  hope  of  a 
resurrection,  but  was  honoring  a  Friend,  now  defeated 
and  discredited,  and  so  taking  his  place  on  the  losing 
side.  Christ  had  made  a  man  of  him,  had  cured  his 
cowardice  and  corrected  his  opportunism. 

The  attitude  of  the  Jews  was  disclosed  by  their 
behavior  towards  John  the  Baptist.  What  our  Lord 
said  to  Nicodemus  was  intimately  reminiscent  of 
John's  words  about  "  the  generation  of  vipers  " — of 
the  serpents  in  the  wilderness,  and  about  the  baptisms 
of  water  and  fire.  Yet  although  John  came  as  a 
disinterested  evangelist,  confessing  explicitly  that  he 


212  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

was  not  the  Christ,  the  meaning  of  his  message  did 
not  touch  the  conscience  even  of  Nicodemus,  let  alone 
of  the  other  rulers.  When  John  was  arrested  by  the 
king,  there  was  no  protest  in  Jerusalem,  where  his 
father  had  been  for  so  many  years  an  honored  priest. 
When  a  foul  murder  followed  the  arrest,  not  a  ripple 
of  emotion  was  discernible  in  the  Temple.  The  case 
is  the  more  extraordinary  because  John  stood  for  a 
simple  moral  issue  on  which  Pharisees,  and  Sadducees, 
and  Herodians,  and  Zealots  were  all  agreed.  No  one 
defended  adultery.  For  that  offense  they  would  have 
stoned  alive  a  humble  woman.  Yet,  when  a  princess 
committed  the  crime, — was  taken,  as  they  put  it,  in 
the  very  act, — and  aggravated  her  guilt  by  assassina- 
tion, they  did  not  say  one  word.  Jesus  noted  their 
silence,  and  held  them  responsible  for  the  blood  of 
the  prophets,  including  the  Baptist.  Sometimes  we 
think  that  His  interpretation  of  the  law  was  severe, 
but  His  censures,  like  His  mercies,  had  this  unusual 
quality — they  applied  equally  to  court  and  cottage. 
In  all  alike  He  detected  sin,  to  all  alike  He  offered 
mercy;  and  we  may  be  sure  that  some  of  us,  who 
before  the  War  were  more  interested  in  the  dance  of 
Salome  than  in  the  hideous  crime  of  which  it  was  a 
part,  would  not  have  escaped  His  sorrowful  condemna- 
tion. It  was  to  Jesus,  not  to  the  chief  priests,  that 
John's  bereaved  disciples  came  for  comfort  and 
encouragement. 

Christ's  Prudence  and  Tact. 

Fully  understanding  the  desperate  and  complex 
malady  that  cursed  the  people,  our  Lord  touched  the 
evil  with  tenderest  prudence.  He  knew  that  Jeru- 
salem was  drifting  into  a  delirium,  unparalleled  for 


LIGHT  CHALLENGES  DARKNESS       213 

ferocity;  and  millions,  who  never  read  a  word  of 
Josephus,  have  trembled  at  the  few  poignant  sentences 
in  which  our  Lord  depicted  Judea's  coming  doom. 
To  save  that  city  from  itself,  He  devoted  many  months 
of  His  three  years'  ministry.  Patient  with  prejudice. 
He  postponed  His  mission  to  the  Gentiles,  lest  the  lost 
sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel  be  thereby  estranged. 
He  veiled  His  Divinity,  speaking  of  Himself  con- 
stantly as  the  Son  of  Man,  and  strictly  forbidding  His 
Apostles  to  publish  abroad  His  glory  on  the  Mount, 
until  He  had  suffered.  As  they  had  rejected  John  as 
a  man,  so  it  was  as  a  Man  that  they  first  rejected 
Jesus.  The  Holy  Babe  was  denied  protection.  The 
Boy  had  no  patron.  None  saw  the  dignity  of  the  Car- 
penter, The  Preacher  was  sneered  at  as  a  Galilean. 
It  was  not  the  difficulty  of  a  dogma,  like  His  Divinity, 
that  set  them  against  Him.  'Neither  they  nor  we  have 
that  excuse.  In  human  affairs — as  we  call  them — we 
are  ever  denying  Him;  we  crucify  not  our  Deity  only, 
but  our  neighbor.  In  Christ,  we  slay  not  our  Master 
alone,  but  our  brother. 

With  gracious  tact,  our  Lord  avoided  contention 
and  threw  Himself  into  the  task  of  healing  the  sick, 
of  which  everybody  could  approve.  With  those  who 
were  ready  to  help  Him,  He  freely  shared  His  power, 
and  He  welcomed  the  co-operation  of  all  who  brought 
to  Him  the  afflicted.  Here  was  not  only  a  personal 
salvation  but  a  national  policy,  outlined  with  con- 
summate wisdom.  He  taught  the  people  to  battle 
against  more  intimate  enemies  than  Rome.  But  they 
were  indifferent.  There,  under  the  shadow  of  the 
Temple, — like  some  squalid  street  within  a  stone's 
throw  of  a  great  cathedral, — lay  festering  multitudes 
of  diseased  persons.    The  scribes  did  not  invite  Him  to 


214  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

the  Pool  of  Bethesda.  They  did  not  perform  one  act 
that  would  have  relieved  or  reduced  that  mass  of 
suffering.  He  went  there  by  Himself,  single-handed, 
and  no  one  begged  Him  to  remain. 

Some  writers  suggest  that  there  was,  after  all,  a 
shadow  of  excuse  for  those  who  hated  the  Redeemer, 
because  they  were,  so  to  say,  startled  into  resentment 
by  His  sudden  claim  to  be  Divine,  and  by  the  scorn  of 
His  denunciations.  The  theory  is  simple  fiction.  He 
approached  the  people  as  a  Healer,  not  as  a  Judge; 
and  with  the  instinct  of  a  great  Physician  he  avoided 
any  word  that  would  arouse  fever  where  fever  would 
be  fatal.  In  this  respect.  He  is  an  example  to  all  who 
would  spread  His  Gospel,  to  avoid  controversy;  to  deal 
mercifully,  not  ruthlessly,  with  guilt;  to  set  forth  the 
truth  in  winsome  fashion.  It  was  after  His  rejection 
as  Healer,  not  before,  that  He  denounced  the  Jews. 
The  sin  that  He  denounced  was  this  rejection — that 
they  laid  on  others  burdens  which  they  would  not 
bear  themselves,  and,  refusing  to  enter  the  Kingdom 
themselves,  shut  the  door  for  others  likewise.  His 
lament  was,  not  that  they  resisted  His  warning  voice, 
but  that  they  would  not  be  gathered,  like  chickens, 
under  His  wing,  and  so  preserved  from  the  desolations 
at  hand. 

Christ  and  Miracle. 

Matters  were  brought  to  an  issue  by  an  event  as 
historic  as  the  conversion  of  Martin  Luther.  There 
lay  in  Jerusalem  a  man  born  blind.  On  the  Sabbath 
day,  our  Saviour  saw  him  as  He  passed,  and,  in  love, 
healed  him.  Asserting  His  personal  authority  over 
human  vision,  He  made  clay  and  anointed  the  man's 
eyes;  and  then,  to  evoke  the  man's  faith,  He  uttered 


LIGHT  CHALLENGES  DARKNESS       215 

a  command  which  had  to  be  obeyed.  As  no  garment 
of  His  remains,  or  fragment  of  His  cross,  or  other 
rehc,  so  He  bade  the  man  wash  away  that  clay,  show- 
ing that  it  was  but  clay.  There  was  no  transubstantia- 
tion,  there  was  no  miracle  in  the  clay  itself.  What 
mattered  was  that  the  man  went,  washed,  and  came 
back  seeing — a  living  example  of  Christ's  salvation  as 
an  enlightenment  of  the  mind. 

The  rulers  were  alarmed.  Like  other  oppressors, 
they  preferred  an  ignorant  to  an  instructed  people, 
and  recognized  that  no  liberty  is  so  dangerous  to  the 
tyrant  as  liberty  in  Christ.  Theirs  was  the  cruel  view 
that  physical  calamity  is  the  fault  of  the  sufferer, 
or  of  his  parents;  that  health  is  not  so  much  an 
evidence  of  God's  goodness  as  of  man's  righteous- 
ness; and  their  only  difficulty  was  to  decide  on  whose 
shoulders  they,  as  judges,  were  to  lay  the  blame. 
To  our  Saviour,  even  congenital  blindness  may  reveal 
the  glory  of  the  Father — the  story  of  little  Muriel, 
in  John  Halifax,  Gentleman,  is  an  illustration — and 
where  others  censured,  He  blessed.  Hearing  of  His 
deed,  they  questioned  the  man's  parents,  who — 
though  they  had  been  so  recently  defended  and  con- 
soled by  the  Saviour — did  not  stand  by  their  son.  The 
faith  was  already  dividing  households  against  them- 
selves. The  man  himself  held  his  ground,  but  for  one 
reason  only — he  had  personal  experience.  Beyond 
that  experience  he  was  at  sea ;  for  when  they  told  him 
that  Jesus  was  a  sinner,  he  answered  that  he  could 
not  speak  as  to  this  one  way  or  the  other.  One  thing 
only  he  knew — "  Whereas  I  was  blind,  now  I  see." 
Unable  to  shake  his  evidence,  they  cast  him  out,  de- 
claring that  he  was  altogether  born  in  sin — yet  pre- 
sumed to  teach  them ! 


216  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

With  the  battle  rapidly  broadening,  Jesus,  the 
Captain,  who  forgets  no  single  soldier,  found  time  to 
bind  the  wounds  of  His  first  casualty.  The  man  was 
deserted  by  friends  and  cast  out  by  the  Church;  who 
of  us  can  say  where  his  eyesight  would  have  led  him 
if,  like  Bartimseus,  He  had  not  seen  our  Lord  as  the 
Central  Figure  of  the  spreading  landscape?  Mere 
enlightenment  was  not  enough — nor  is  it  to-day.  We 
need  to  add  reverence  to  our  knowledge,  and  worship 
to  our  discoveries.  We  need  not  only  vision  but  a 
vision  of  the  Redeemer. 

This  miracle  raised  momentous  issues.  Despite 
their  pride  of  birth,  the  Jews  themselves  asked :  "  Are 
we  also  blind  ?  "  The  answer  was — Yes,  they  were 
blind;  but  on  the  other  hand  this  was  not  the  blind- 
ness, though  from  birth,  which  Jesus  so  emphatically 
denounced.  We  all  suffer  from  it.  Some  of  us,  to 
the  end  of  our  lives,  see  men  as  trees  walking — mere 
automata,  without  a  soul  to  be  saved  or  feelings  to  be 
considered.  What  condemns  us  is  not  so  much  this 
natural  blindness,  but  the  fact  that,  knowing  it,  we  yet 
say  we  see.  It  is  not  the  original  sin  that  is  so  trouble- 
some— not  in  itself;  what  our  Lord  dealt  with  severely 
is  the  sin  that  "  remaineth."  It  is  because  our  deeds 
are  evil  that  we  prefer  darkness  to  light.  And  the 
most  terrible  of  all  woes  is  reserved  for  those  who, 
being  blind  themselves,  come  forward  in  their  cruelty 
and  pride,  as  guides  unto  others,  so  that  the  leader 
and  his  followers  fall  together  into  the  ditch.  To-day, 
there  are  many  voices  heard  amid  the  chaos — men  who 
in  effect  say,  "  I  am  he."  Let  him  beware  who  renders 
counsel  to  an  afflicted  Christendom,  except  as  he  de- 
rives it  from  the  Eternal  Wisdom. 


XXX 

REBELS  AGAINST  THE  DIVINE 

The  Way  to  God  Open— Lord  of   the   Sabbath— The  Word 
was  God. 

WHILE  obedience  to  our  Lord  developed  the 
good  in  people,  it  seemed  as  if  revolt  against 
Him  stimulated  the  evil.  The  Rabbis  had  listened 
to  Him  as  a  boy  with  kindly  wonder,  and  all  that  we 
could  say  against  them  was  that,  in  carelessness,  they 
lost  sight  of  Him.  When  next  they  encountered 
Him,  carelessness  had  turned  to  disdain — what  good 
thing,  they  asked,  was  to  be  expected  of  Nazareth? 
But,  in  a  few  brief  months,  disdain  had  become  a 
murderous  intent.  The  intent  hardened  into  a  plot. 
The  plot  was  developed  by  espionage,  and  fomented 
by  bribery.  Its  growth  turned  an  Apostle  into  a 
traitor.  Witnesses  were  suborned  to  commit  perjury, 
and  an  accomplice  was  Barabbas,  a  convicted  robber. 
Wagging  their  heads  and  taunting  Him  as  He  suffered, 
the  Rabbis  poisoned  their  zeal  with  cruelty,  and 
their  justice  with  revenge.  They  were  men  utterly 
corrupt,  yet  they  suggested  that  His  most  blessed 
body,  which  saw  no  corruption,  would  defile  the  sacri- 
fice of  bulls  and  goats,  which  was  a  gross  hypocrisy. 
When  He  lay  in  the  tomb  dead — imprisoned  by  a 

217 


218  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

great  stone,  immovable  with  the  forces  of  Nature, 
His  resting-place  sealed  by  the  impress  of  human 
authority,  and  guarded  by  irresistible  military  power 
— even  then  His  silence  aroused  their  terror.  Care- 
lessness, disdain,  murder,  conspiracy,  bribery,  espion- 
age, treachery,  robbery,  revenge,  hypocrisy,  terror — all 
these  evil  influences  were  concentrated  against  Him. 
Over  them  all,  in  His  resurrection.  He  triumphed. 
On  the  authority  of  their  own  guard,  they  were  told 
of  that  triumph;  yet  with  this  witness  to  the  truth 
before  them,  they  persisted  in  error;  and  in  watching 
the  drama,  we  learn  by  what  unfathomable  risks  the 
best  of  us  are  surrounded  when  we  see  the  Saviour 
yet  do  not  love  Him. 

The  Way  to  God  Open. 

What  challenged  the  issue  were  circumstances  in 
themselves  apparently  accidental.  When  Jesus  saw 
that  people  like  the  paralytic  man  or  the  woman  who 
wept  over  His  feet  were  truly  repentant.  He  told 
them  that  their  sins  were  forgiven,  He  sent  them 
away  free — with  their  guilt  removed — and  with  His 
command  to  sin  no  more.  The  scribes  murmured, 
realizing  instantly  what  claim  was  implied.  They 
knew  that  it  belongs  neither  to  popes  nor  priests, 
but  to  God  alone,  to  grant  absolution  to  men.  They 
knew  that  only  by  Divine  grace  can  men  hope  to 
cease  from  sin.  And,  to  this  extent,  they  were  right. 
It  is  to  our  Father  direct,  without  intermediary  of 
any  kind,  that  our  Saviour  bids  us  to  pray  for  forgive- 
ness and  the  strength  to  resist  temptation.  In  the 
Parable  of  the  Wicked  Servant,  the  debt  to  man  com- 
pares with  the  debt  to  God  as  one  hundred  pence 
compares  with  ten  thousand  talents.     Only  the  King 


REBELS  AGAINST  THE  DIVINE        219 

could  cancel  this  infinite  liability;  and  if  Jesus  be 
not  the  King,  then  it  follows  that  He  has  no  right  to 
pardon.  He  could  not,  therefore,  ease  the  consciences 
of  men  without  exercising  a  Divine  prerogative,  and 
they  who  deny  His  Deity  are  left  inevitably  to  face 
the  conscience,  unaided. 

Indeed,  the  case  goes  further  than  this.  In  for- 
giving sin,  as  Son  of  Man,  Jesus  accepted  an  obliga- 
tion to  pay  the  penalty  for  sin;  with  Him  there  was  no 
compounding  with  one's  creditors.  A  bankrupt  for 
money  which  perishes  may  be  let  off  with  so  much 
in  the  pound;  but  a  bankrupt  in  things  eternal,  which 
do  not  perish,  cannot  even  forgive  himself  until  pay- 
ment has  been  made  of  the  uttermost  farthing.  Even 
the  high  priest,  recording  the  last  flash  of  that 
revelation  which  in  the  old  days  had  shone  from 
the  stones  of  destiny,  Urim  and  Thummim,  and  so 
fulfilling  the  ancient  Hebraic  divination,  declared  it 
expedient  that  one  man  should  die  for  the  people. 
It  was  thus  not  against  some  emotional  benevolence 
that  they  murmured  when  they  heard  Him  forgive 
sins.  They  were  trampling  underfoot  the  love  that 
drew  Him  to  the  cross.  They  were  accusing  Him 
of  issuing  promissory  notes  which  He  had  no  inten- 
tion of  honoring. 

Having  denied  His  mastery  over  evil,  they  next 
rebelled  against  His  lordship  over  the  good.  He 
Himself  regarded  the  Sabbath  as  a  Divine  institution. 
So  far  from  inaugurating  a  Continental  Sunday,  He 
attended  the  synagogue,  and  told  His  disciples  to 
pray  that  their  flight  from  danger  be  not  in  winter 
or  on  the  Sabbath  day,  thereby  indicating  that  the 
Sabbath  is  as  needful  to  our  welfare  as  the  unalterable 
seasons  or  any  other  ordinance  of  the  calendar.     It 


220  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

was  just  because  He  so  kept  the  Sabbath  that  He 
met  at  public  worship  the  man  with  the  withered 
hand.  We  should  notice  that  they  did  not  doubt 
His  power  to  restore  that  limb — to  restore  it  whole 
as  the  other.  All  that  troubled  them  was  the  question 
whether  He  would  do  this  on  the  Sabbath.  What 
aroused  their  malice  was  not  that  the  miracle  was  a 
delusion,  but  that  it  was  a  crime.  On  another  occasion, 
when  He  told  the  impotent  man  to  take  up  his  bed 
and  walk,  their  anger  rose  to  madness,  and  then  it 
was  that  they  communed  together  what  they  might 
do  to  Him,  The  controversy  was  renewed  when  His 
disciples  plucked  the  ears  of  corn  and  rubbed  them 
in  their  hands,  so,  in  a  rabbinical  sense,  breaking  the 
Sabbath  by  reaping  and  threshing  and  winnowing 
the  grain. 

To  our  Lord,  the  Sabbath  was  made  for  man,  not 
man  for  the  Sabbath,  and  the  Son  of  Man — that  is, 
Jesus,  as  our  Brother — is  Lord  of  the  Sabbath.  Each 
of  us  is  responsible  for  arranging  how  best  we  can 
spend  our  leisure.  When  he  was  in  need,  David  ate 
of  the  shewbread,  reserved  for  the  priests,  showing 
that  no  symbol  of  God  is  so  sacred  as  man  created  in 
His  image;  and  that,  ultimately,  when  the  truth  is, 
as  it  were,  tested  by  the  hunger  that  is  unto  death, 
the  king  is  priest,  and  man  becomes  both  priest  and 
king.  The  stricken  soldier  lies  upon  the  altar  of  a 
shell-scarred  church,  and  hallows  it;  it  would  be  the 
same  if  he  were  a  stricken  prince  or  a  stricken  prelate ; 
and  we  distinguish  between  the  principle  of  the 
Sabbath  and  those  scruples  that,  if  pressed  as  the 
Jews  pressed  them,  would  derange  our  hospitals — 
yes,  our  hospitals  for  the  Jews  themselves — and 
make  of  the  Sabbath  a  day,  not  of  rest,  but  of  special 


REBELS  AGAINST  THE  DIVINE        221 

pain  and  suffering.  To  the  beast  that  had  fallen  into 
a  pit,  the  Jews  at  once  rendered  help.  Here,  as  in 
the  Temple,  they  paid  more  attention  to  bulls  and 
goats  than  to  men  and  women.  And  it  was  not  until 
Jesus  spent  a  Sabbath  in  the  tomb,  resting  therein 
after  His  work  of  redemption  was  finished,  as  His 
Father  rested  when  the  Creation  was  complete — it  was 
not  until  then  that  man  was  delivered  from  his  hor- 
rible pit,  his  miry  clay. 

Lord  of  the  Sabbath. 

We  have  seen  that,  in  forgiving  sins,  Jesus  asserted 
His  Deity.  In  His  use  of  the  Sabbath,  that  grave 
claim  was  also  implied.  "  My  Father,"  He  said,  when 
He  discussed  the  matter,  "  My  Father  worketh 
hitherto,  and  I  work."  Idleness  is  no  more  a  virtue 
on  the  seventh  than  on  any  other  day,  and  there  is 
no  day,  no  hour  of  the  day,  when  God's  love  is  inactive. 
He  is  always  busy — making  the  sun  to  shine,  healing 
old  wounds,  ripening  precious  fruits,  and  granting 
life  to  every  creature.  In  curing  an  impotent  man, 
Jesus  was  continuing  the  intimate  co-operation 
within  the  Triune  Godhead  which  had  been  His  since 
the  world  began.  He  was  doing  God's  will  on  earth 
as  God's  will  is  done  in  heaven.  And  this  was  why 
they  sought  the  more  to  kill  Him,  because  He  not 
only  ruled  the  Sabbath,  but  justified  His  rule  by 
making  Himself,  thereby,  equal  with  God.  Not  for 
one  instant  did  He  surrender  to  their  enmity  His 
time  and  His  opportunities.  Until  they  bound  His 
hands.  He  went  on  healing.  The  only  Sabbath  on 
which  He  lay  silent  and  motionless  was  the  Sabbath 
when  He  lay  dead.  And  while,  with  Him  thus  slain, 
they    had   their   triumph,    from    that   moment   their 


THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

Sabbath  disappeared.  It  was  not  on  the  Sabbath,  or 
seventh  day,  but  on  the  first  day  of  the  week  that 
He  rose  again,  His  lordship  vindicated.  To  change 
the  calendar  is  for  a  private  individual  an  almost 
impossible  task;  but  the  world  now  takes  its  week, 
not  from  Adam,  not  from  Moses,  not  from  the  scribes, 
but  from  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  Without  legislation, 
without  armies,  without  navies.  He  has  established 
His  claim  to  be  Lord  even  of  the  Sabbath. 

The  Word  vi^as  God. 

His  Deity  was  thus  no  academic  dogma,  left  to 
theologians.  It  interested  everyone.  The  man  born 
blind  could  not  believe  that  he  had  received  his  sight 
from  a  sinner;  his  Friend  Unknown  must  have  come 
from  God.  Once  satisfied  that  Jesus  who  talked  with 
him  was  this  Son  of  God — that  none  else  was  He — 
his  hesitation  vanished,  and  he  worshiped.  The 
tempestuous  debates  in  the  Temple,  like  some  violently 
oscillating  compass,  ranged  ever  around  His  Deity. 
If  they  "  tempted "  Him  with  questions  about  the 
tribute  money,  about  divorce,  and  other  perplexities, 
it  was  to  find  out  whether  He  was  really  "  Wonder- 
ful, Counselor,  the  Mighty  God,  the  Everlasting 
Father,  the  Prince  of  Peace."  Nor  could  they  avoid 
certain  comparisons.  Was  He  greater  than  Moses? 
Was  He  greater  than  David?  Was  He  greater  than 
Abraham?  Even  from  that  searching  test  He  did 
not  flinch.  Standing  there,  with  the  Temple  above 
Him,  with  the  priests  around  Him,  and  with  His 
mind  surveying  the  long  and  momentous  panorama 
of  Israelitish  destiny.  He  answered,  in  words  that 
ring  through  all  ages:  "  Before  Abraham  was,  I  am." 

Against   this   they  could   not   argue.     They   durst 


REBELS  AGAINST  THE  DIVINE        223 

not  even  continue  to  ask  Him  questions.  But  they 
could  and  did  take  up  stones  to  stone  Him — fighting 
the  physical  in  Him  where  the  spiritual  was  beyond 
them;  and  if  He  went  His  way  unharmed,  it  was  to 
show  them  that,  in  conquering  death.  He  could  choose 
the  manner  of  it.  He  could  escape  at  will,  and  He 
could  suffer  at  will.  And  in  the  end  the  death  to 
which  He  did  submit  was  the  most  awful  conceivable 
for  man. 

As  with  the  Sabbath,  so  with  the  Temple.  On  the 
one  hand.  He  rid  it  of  the  money-changers;  on  the 
other  hand.  He  announced  its  destruction.  As  God's 
throne,  it  belonged  to  God,  and  was  sacred.  Because 
it  belonged  to  God,  therefore,  Jesus  could  cleanse  it, 
dispose  of  it,  rebuild  it.  And  He  has  done  so.  The 
Temple,  like  the  Sabbath,  has,  in  fact,  disappeared. 
A  new  Temple,  like  a  new  Sabbath,  has,  in  fact,  arisen. 
That  Temple  is  His  Body,  of  which  those  who  love 
Him  are  members.  His  teaching  about  the  Temple, 
which  to  the  Jews  seemed  blasphemy,  has  become 
for  us  as  nations  a  world-wide  history,  and  for  us 
as  individuals  an  intimate  personal  experience.  In 
three  days.  He  did  raise  a  Temple,  not  made  with 
hands.  This  Temple  now  overshadows  every  other 
temple;  and  while  the  living  stones  of  His  Church 
are  built  securely  around  Him  as  Chief  Corner  Stone, 
of  that  golden  Temple  at  Jerusalem  where  He  uttered 
His  prophecies,  not  one  stone,  however  great,  now 
rests  upon  another. 

Have  I  made  the  issue  plain,  I  wonder?  It  was 
plain  enough  to  the  Jews.  When  they  considered 
His  forgiveness,  or  His  Sabbath,  or  His  Temple — 
indeed,  whatever  subject  they  brought  to  His  test 
— the  result  was  the  same.     Above  and  beyond  the 


224  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

matter  in  hand,  however  profound  its  importance, 
there  rose  a  still  larger  truth;  and  that  truth,  looming 
now  dimly,  now  clearly,  through  the  mists  of  prejudice 
and  anger  and  malice,  was  His  Deity.  We  may  forget 
it,  evade  it,  deny  it,  question  it;  but,  to  us  as  to  them, 
it  ever  returns  unalterable,  inaccessible,  eternal  in 
the  heavens,  yet  spreading  abroad  over  the  homes  and 
highways  of  men. 


XXXI 

THE  INDICTMENT  AGAINST  OUR  SAVIOUR 

Wanted,  a  Man  I— Christ  and  Home  Life — The  Worm  and  the 
Fire. 

I  WILL  now  proceed  as  plainly  as  I  can  with  the 
precise  issue  upon  which  the  Jews  challenged  our 
Lord.  The  Pagans  then,  as  now,  worshiped  many 
gods.  The  Philosophers  then,  as  now,  subscribed  to 
many  theories.  But  the  Jews  and  their  Rabbis  cleared 
the  ground  of  gods  and  theories  by  surrendering  them- 
selves to  an  absorbing  belief  in  one  Everlasting,  Om- 
nipotent, and  All-knowing  Jehovah.  "  We  know  what 
we  worship,"  was  our  Lord's  tribute  to  this  stupen- 
dous concentration  of  reverence  on  the  Father  of  all. 
"  Salvation,"  He  added,  "  is  of  the  Jews  " — the  reason 
being  that  to  the  Jews  had  been  revealed  the  simple 
knowledge  of  God  and  duty,  of  right  and  wrong,  which 
is  the  basis  of  Redemption.  They  knew  that  they 
had  to  deal,  not  with  hypotheses,  not  with  idols,  but 
with  Persons — the  Almighty  on  the  one  hand,  devils 
and  angels  and  men  and  women  on  the  other. 

When,  therefore,  the  Jew  had  to  decide  what  he 
thought  about  Jesus,  he  was  reduced  to  two  alterna- 
tives. Either  the  Man  of  Nazareth  came  from  God 
or  He  came  from  the  Devil;  either  He  was  utmost 

225 


226  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

good  or  He  was  utmost  evil;  either  He  was  Divine  or 
He  blasphemed.  Since  those  days,  men  have  sought 
to  evade  this  supreme  choice  by  formulating  some 
kind  of  a  middle  solution,  like  Unitarianism,  in  one 
of  its  many  guises.  None  of  these  compromises  avails 
for  more  than  a  few  years,  and  with  a  few  enthusiasts. 
Sooner  or  later,  we  have,  like  the  Jews,  to  face  the 
main  question,  as  they  faced  it — either  to  worship  the 
Christ,  or  to  reject  or  neglect  Him.  For  months  they 
watched  Him,  discussing  His  every  act  and  word. 
Their  verdict  against  Him  was  deliberate  and  con- 
sidered. Their  sin  was  that  they  knew  it  to  be  a  lie. 
They  said  that  He  had  a  devil;  that  by  Beelzebub, 
Prince  of  Devils,  He  cast  out  devils;  that  as  a  blas- 
phemer. He  deserved  to  die. 

It  was  a  desperate  paradox,  but  it  can  be  explained. 
To  the  Jew,  as  to  us  all,  the  nearest  and  most  evident 
reality  is  not  good,  but  evil;  and  in  evil,  therefore, 
it  was  most  easy  to  believe.  John  came,  neither  eat- 
ing nor  drinking,  and  they  said  that  he  had  a  devil. 
Our  Lord  came,  accepting  hospitality  and  returning 
it,  and  again  it  was  the  devil  that  they  attributed  to 
Him,  They  were  like  the  liar  who  cannot  credit 
another  man  with  speaking  the  truth,  or  a  drunkard 
who  is  certain  that  all  teetotalers  are  tipplers  in  secret. 
And  their  hypothesis  is  echoed  even  in  our  own  day. 
Men  and  women,  as  respectable  and  as  honored  as  the 
Rabbis,  will  have  it  that  the  Gospel  is  based,  not  on 
justice  and  truth  and  sanity  and  love;  but  on  super- 
stition, credulity,  ignorance,  unwholesome  excitement, 
religio-mania — all  the  evidences  of  devilry — backed 
by  documents  that  are  not  what  they  pretend  to  be. 
The  Prince  of  Devils  presents  himself  to  our  intellects 
as  an  angel  of  enlightenment,  and  scholarship,  and 


INDICTMENT  AGAINST  OUR  SAVIOUR    227 

inquiry,  and  presents  our  Saviour  as  the  arch-enemy 
of  truth  and  good  sense.  In  this  controversy  we,  like 
the  Pharisees,  have  to  take  one  side  or  the  other. 

Wanted,  a  Man! 

To  those  who  abused  Him,  Jesus  applied  a  cooling 
and  final  logic.  He  knew  well  enough  that  prejudices 
would  obscure  the  path.  He  spoke  of  false  Christs 
arising  who  would  deceive  even  the  elect.  He  told  of 
persecutors  who,  in  killing  His  disciples,  would  think 
that  they  were  doing  God's  service.  But  He  was 
fully  convinced  that  Satan  would  never  be  so  stupid 
as  to  cast  out  Satan.  This  would  mean  that  the  haunts 
of  evil,  being  divided  against  themselves,  must  collapse, 
which  is  not  what  has  happened.  Among  Christians, 
there  are  schisms  and  sects;  but  about  wickedness, 
in  all  its  forms,  there  is  an  impressive  solidarity.  Each 
iniquity  reinforces  the  others,  so  that  it  is  not  one 
devil  but  a  legion  that  must  be  expelled  from  the 
human  heart — devils  that  speak  with  one  voice,  and 
act  with  one  impulse,  whether  they  possess  men  or 
swine.  If  the  heart  is  to  be  delivered  from  such 
usurpers,  it  will  not  be  by  sowing  dissension  among 
the  enemy.  A  strong  man  armed  must  arise  and  en- 
gage all  devilry  in  mortal  combat.  A  strong  man — 
be  it  noted — not  an  archangel,  or  a  ghost,  or  a  senti- 
mentalist— a  man,  strong  because  incarnate.  And 
if  there  be  amongst  the  Jews  or  amongst  ourselves 
children  who  cast  out  devils,  or  otherwise  resist  evil, 
then  do  they  testify,  consciously  or  unconsciously, 
that  our  Lord  defeated  evil,  not  with  evil  but  with 
good,  that  He  was  not  devil  but  Divine. 

Peculiarly  malicious  was  the  reference  to  Beelzebub, 
the  lord  of  indulgence.    When  Jesus  dined  with  publi- 


828  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

cans,  like  Matthew  or  Zacchseus,  or  with  a  rich  leper, 
like  Simon,  they  said  He  was  a  wine-bibber,  who 
battened  on  the  plunder  of  the  people.  They  did  not 
realize  that  His  Gospel  was  as  much  for  the  West 
End  as  for  the  East  End;  that  there  is  as  deadly  a 
sickness  of  soul  at  a  dinner  party  as  there  is  in  a  gin- 
palace;  that  wherever  He  went — be  it  among  rich  or 
poor — His  object  was  to  make  men  and  women 
"  whole,"  to  restore  to  them  the  full  use  of  all  their 
faculties,  to  give  them  the  more  abundant  life. 

Doubtless,  the  hospitality  thus  extended  to  Him 
by  the  wealthy  was,  spiritually  considered,  an  im- 
perfect devotion.  He  might  have  replied :  "  This  is 
living  to  the  flesh;  I  can  have  no  part  in  it."  But 
with  a  deeper  wisdom  He  accepted  from  them  what 
they  intended  to  be  in  His  honor.  In  due  course, 
men  like  Matthew,  who  made  Him  a  great  feast,  learnt 
more  fully  what  banquet  it  was  that  He  desired.  It 
was  in  their  hearts  that  they  spread  the  table  for  Him, 
and  when,  in  wisdom.  He  removed  from  them  His 
Bodily  Presence,  they  found  Him  again  wherever  there 
were  poor  and  needy  awaiting  comfort. 

Slander  assailed  Him  most  severely  when  He  res- 
cued fallen  women.  Even  His  disciples  were  amazed 
that,  at  the  well  of  Samaria,  He  should  talk  openly 
with  such  an  one.  To  Him,  the  publicans  and  harlots 
were  nearer  to  the  Kingdom  than  the  scribes  and 
Pharisees.  If  these  latter  had  been  really  righteous. 
He  would  not  have  asked  them  to  "  change  their 
minds";  it  was  only  sinners  that  He  called  to  repent- 
ance. But  the  point  was  that  the  Rabbis  were  like  the 
man  who  says,  so  willingly,  "  I  go  " — and  then  stays 
where  he  is.  It  is  far  better  to  declare  bluntly,  "  I 
won't  go  " — and  afterwards  decide  to  obey.    The  mo- 


INDICTMENT  AGAINST  OUR  SAVIOUR     229 

ment  that  the  Samaritan  woman  was  convicted  of  her 
shame,  He  spoke  to  her  in  loftiest  language  about  wor- 
shiping God  in  spirit  and  in  truth;  and  she  listened, 
and,  what  is  more,  understood. 

Christ  and  Home  Life. 

If  He  moved  freely  with  people  of  no  character, 
it  was  not  that  He  held  morals  in  light  esteem.  On 
the  contrary,  He  said  that  "  in  the  beginning " — 
the  phrase  which  casually  reveals  His  intimacy  with 
creation — it  was  not  so.  God  made  male  and  female, 
and  God  unites  them;  let  not  man  put  asunder. 
Divorce  was  only  a  concession  by  Moses  to  our  hard- 
ness of  heart;  and  marriage  after  divorce  is  adultery. 
His  standard  in  these  matters  was  so  utterly  beyond 
us  that — as  He  admitted — all  cannot  receive  it.  And 
so  far  was  He  from  playing  with  the  grave  obliga- 
tions on  which  home  is  founded  that,  unmarried  Him- 
self, He  constantly  blessed  the  home.  It  was  at  a  wed- 
ding that  He  did  His  first  miracle.  It  was  Peter's 
wife's  mother  that  He  cured  of  a  fever.  And  when  the 
Baptist  said  that  the  Saviour's  joy  in  His  disciples 
was  like  the  Bridegroom's  joy  in  the  Bride,  He  ac- 
cepted the  simile  and  developed  it  into  parables  and 
sayings  of  tenderest  significance.  The  sinners  loved 
Him  much,  not  because  they  lacked  guilt,  but  because 
they  admitted  guilt  and  were  forgiven  much.  When, 
in  an  ecstasy  of  gratitude,  such  an  one  washed  His 
feet  with  tears  of  repentance,  and  wiped  them,  humbly, 
with  her  hair,  and  kissed  them  in  adoration.  He  did 
not  ordain  these  acts  as  ceremonies,  as  the  Pope  has 
done,  but,  on  the  other  hand.  He  defeated  those  who 
would  have  raised  a  scandal.  Nowhere,  declared  He, 
would  the  Gospel  be  preached  without  mention  of  this 


280  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

deed.  What  He  looked  at  was  the  love  that  prompted 
the  act,  and  the  joy  of  salvation  that  inspired  the 
love.  And,  although  the  occasion  was  not  public  in 
the  usual  sense,  yet  His  prophecy  has  come  to  pass. 
What  was  seen  by  a  score  or  two  of  people  has  been 
known  to  scores  of  hundreds  of  millions.  Where  we 
save  reputations  by  suppressing  the  truth,  our  Lord 
defends  His  own  by  spreading  it. 

This,  then,  is  the  issue — awful  in  its  momentous 
contrast — Is  He  Devil  or  is  He  Divine?  Does  He 
bewitch  us  or  does  He  save  us?  Clearly,  it  was  and  is 
a  matter  of  life  or  death.  It  is  a  question  that  we 
miist  answer.  Despite  all  their  denials,  our  Lord  knew 
in  Himself  that  they  went  about  to  kill  Him.  The 
Pharisees  stood  for  the  supremacy  of  the  spiritual 
power;  the  Herodians  asserted  the  temporal  power; 
but  they  united  against  the  Messiah,  and  their  coalition 
was  joined  by  the  Sadducees.  For  the  last  time  in 
her  history,  the  priests,  the  Rabbis,  the  soldiers,  and 
the  people  of  Jerusalem  were  swayed  by  one  impulse. 
Over  His  condemnation,  Herod,  the  monarch,  who 
ruled  by  hereditary  privilege,  and  Pontius  Pilate,  the 
governor,  who  governed  by  efficiency,  made  up  their 
perennial  quarrel;  and,  with  Him  slain,  all  sides  hoped 
for  a  conclusive  peace.  But  what  happened  was  that 
society,  deprived  of  its  righteous  basis,  broke  up  into 
fragments.  The  questions  which  Jesus  answered 
with  such  authority  when  they  "  tempted "  Him 
split  up  the  nation  into  antagonisms  so  bitter  that, 
when  Paul  came  to  be  tried,  no  verdict  for  him  or 
against  him  could  be  secured  from  a  distracted  Sanhe- 
drin.  A  few  years  later,  when  the  Redeemer's  Gospel 
was  drawing  Jew  and  Greek,  barbarian,  Scythian, 
bond  and  free,  into  one  fold,  the  Temple  area,  with  its 


INDICTMENT  AGAINST  OUR  SAVIOUR    S31 

Pharisees  and  Sadducees  and  Herodians  and  Zealots, 
ran  red  with  the  blood  of  fratricidal  strife;  and  His 
disciples,  obeying  His  instructions,  fled  into  the  moun- 
tains, knowing  well  that  where  His  love  and  sacrifice 
had  been  rejected,  their  witness  was  of  no  further 
avail.  The  stubborn  citizens,  who  had  refused  to 
acknowledge  the  abomination  of  desolation  within 
themselves,  witnessed  ultimately  the  abomination  of 
desolation,  standing  where  it  ought  not,  within  their 
Temple. 

The  Worm  and  the  Fire. 

As  their  cold  rage  against  Him  reached  a  climax, 
He  spoke  with  a  calm  but  fearful  emphasis  of  retribu- 
tion. On  earth,  there  would  be  the  destruction  of 
their  city  and  Temple,  the  ruin  of  their  womanhood, 
the  massacre  of  their  babes.  But  beyond  the  grave — 
what  then?  He  told  of  the  worm — instrument  of 
corruption — that  dieth  not;  the  fire — instrument  of 
remorse — which  is  not  quenched;  of  the  soul,  that 
endures  eternal,  after  the  body  has  been  resolved,  by 
decay  or  by  burning,  into  its  physical  elements.  He 
therefore  set  out  to  save  men  and  cleanse  men  now. 
In  this  present  life.  He  laid  on  us  the  sovereign  re- 
sponsibility of  making  our  choice.  Here  must  we  wear 
the  wedding  garment.  Here  must  we  fill  the  lamp 
with  oil.  Here  must  we  put  His  talents  to  fullest  use. 
What  we  do,  what  we  say,  what  we  think  and  believe 
— all  this  He  thus  rescued  from  the  trivial;  and  in  His 
sight  we  stand,  free  agents  of  the  future,  among  the 
angels  and  archangels.  His  judgments  were,  on  the 
one  hand,  Divinely  merciful;  and  on  the  other, 
Divinely  terrible.  Knowing  our  frame,  remembering 
that  we  are  dust,  He  pities  our  infirmities.    He  does 


232  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

not  condemn.  He  would  not  have  us  condemn  one 
another.  When  they  drove  the  nails  into  His  hands, 
He  begged  forgiveness  for  them.  The  strokes  of  that 
hammer  symbolized  for  all  time  the  utmost  conceiv- 
able sin  of  the  flesh.  There  He  healed — there  He  par- 
doned. Man's  hand  against  His  hand — that  He  for- 
gave. 

But  man's  spirit  against  God's  Spirit — man's  will 
against  God's  will — of  that  He  took  a  graver  view. 
The  body  is  of  time,  the  Spirit  and  our  spirits  are  of 
eternity;  and  the  Spirit  will  not  always  strive  with 
man.  If  peace  comes  not  by  union,  then  it  must  come 
by  separation;  it  is  the  only  other  way.  If  recent 
calamities  have  taught  us  nothing  else,  they  have 
surely  brought  us  back  to  the  everlasting  consequences 
of  resistance  to  the  Son  of  God. 


XXXII 
DENIED  AND  BETRAYED 

The  Bequest  of  Christ — A  Missed  Opportunity— The  Seen  and 
the  Unseen. 

LITTLE  as  we  sometimes  remember  it,  we  all 
spend  our  allotted  days  under  sentence  of  death. 
Though  He  was  in  perfect  health,  our  Lord  lived  His 
life  seeing  thus  the  end.  He  faced  many  dangers, 
from  tempest,  from  plague,  from  contagion  of  the 
leprous,  from  wild  men  and  wild  beasts;  but  He  was 
never  nervous — never  worried.  He  quietly  went  on, 
doing  the  next  thing,  in  full  assurance  that  He  was 
safe  until  His  time  should  come.  When  hostility 
thickened  around  Him,  He  displayed  no  bravado,  but 
regarded  death  as  a  grave  fact,  not  to  be  treated  lightly, 
as  if  it  does  not  matter,  but  to  be  undertaken,  like  a 
journey,  with  steady  courage  and  with  wise  prepara- 
tion. Gradually  He  withdrew  from  Galilee,  where 
had  been  the  sphere  of  His  social  work;  and  as  His 
disciples  accompanied  Him,  they  were  "  amazed " 
and  filled  with  an  ever-deepening  awe.  He  said  good- 
by  to  Capernaum  and  Bethsaida,  those  cities  which 
had  seen  so  much  of  Him  and  believed  so  little.  Occa- 
sionally— as  at  Jericho,  where  He  healed  two  blind 
men — He  performed  some  miracle,  showing  that  His 

233 


234  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

powers  were  undiminished — that  it  was  not  some  im- 
postor, but  the  Restorer  of  the  ear  of  Malchus,  whom 
they  crucified.  But  He  spent  much  time  in  retire- 
ment, Hving  at  Bethany  with  Martha  and  Mary;  and 
in  Him,  at  thirty-three  years  old,  we  see  the  dignity 
and  the  peace  of  old  age.  He  was  not  embittered  by 
apparent  failure,  but  became  the  Friend  and  Com- 
panion of  His  disciples  in  the  difficulties  of  their  de- 
clining years.  H  they  have  to  cross  the  Brook  Kidron 
— which  means  "  full  of  blackness  " — the  torrent  that 
flows  inexorably  between  the  old  Jerusalem  and 
Mount  Olivet,  the  threshold  of  the  new,  He  went  there 
first,  and  we  can  trace  His  footsteps.  Long  after- 
wards, His  Apostles  were  constantly  helped  by  the 
knowledge  that  they  w^re  dying,  not  alone,  but  with 
Him.  And  when  John  saw  Him  in  splendor,  one  thing 
that  he  noticed  was  that  the  Ancient  of  Days,  who  was 
killed,  so  young,  wore  above  His  brow  a  crown  of 
snowy  hair.  I  know  of  nothing,  even  in  Scripture, 
more  astounding  in  its  inspired  audacity  than  this 
declaration  of  the  truth  that  in  one  awful  day  of 
suffering  the  hair  of  the  Son  of  Man  thus  changed  to 
pure  white. 

The  Bequest  of  Christ. 

Having  no  earthly  property.  His  last  will  and 
testament  was  in  unusual  form.  "  Not  as  the  world 
giveth,"  said  He,  "  give  I  unto  you."  There  was 
nothing  in  writing — no  copyrights,  no  lawyers  to  be 
consulted,  no  deeds  to  be  signed,  no  codicils,  "  My 
peace  I  leave  with  you  " — that  was  His  bequest  as 
He  went  hence,  and  on  that  benefaction  His  heirs 
paid  legacy  duty,  not  in  money,  but  with  their  heart's 
blood.     Never  were  death-duties  so  ruthlessly  levied. 


DENIED  AND  BETRAYED 

yet  so  cheerfully  paid,  as  in  the  Early  Christian 
Church.  Knowing  that  His  possessions  consisted  en- 
tirely of  those  whom  He  had  won,  He  named  His 
Father  and  theirs  as  Executor,  Trustee,  and  Guardian. 
In  due  legal  phrase,  uttered  on  His  knees.  He  said: 
"  Father,  I  will  that  they  whom  Thou  hast  given  Me 
be  with  Me  where  I  am."  They  were  His  investments, 
and  with  an  intense  tenacity  He  declared  that  not  one 
of  them  should  be  lost.  His  title  to  His  own  was  com- 
plete. "  Thine  they  were  " — by  creation  and  eternal 
right — "and  Thou  gavest  them  Me";  the  chain  of 
ownership  was  complete,  and  must  be  maintained  until 
the  whole  estate  is  redeemed  and  an  account  of  it 
rendered.  He  did  not  test  success  in  life  by  accumu- 
lated cash,  but  by  the  love  of  men  and  women  and 
children.  And  even  by  that  test.  He  died  poor,  for 
His  friends  were  few  and  their  loyalty  failed.  Yet, 
patient.  He  did  not  complain.  He  did  indeed  say, 
"  I  have  given  all,  yet  you  are  only  twelve  men,  and 
one  is  a  devil  " ;  but  in  His  very  redeeming  effort 
He  remained  utterly  humble — "  having  loved  His 
own.  He  loved  them  unto  the  end." 

It  was  never  His  custom  to  condemn  anything 
without  giving  something  better.  When  Satan 
tempted  Him  in  the  wilderness.  He  turned  away  from 
earthly  glory,  as  of  no  account;  but  on  approaching 
the  cross,  with  its  exposure  and  shame,  glory  became 
His  favorite  word.  Napoleon  himself  did  not  use 
it  more  often,  and  it  was  the  thought  of  glory  that 
sustained  Him  amid  the  gloom.  To  the  Herods 
who  tried  Him,  glory  was  a  garment  that  has  to  be 
put  on — a  robe  of  gold  or  silver,  that  flashes  only  in 
the  sun,  with  multitudes  to  applaud.  Thus  it  was 
that  one  of  those  Herods  stood  forth  in  the  theater  of 


836  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

Caesarea,  like  a  god  to  look  at,  but  smitten  at  his  vitals 
with  a  loathsome  malady.  To  Jesus,  the  glory  of  a 
person  is  not  put  on,  but  revealed.  When  He  was 
transfigured,  it  was  not  His  robe  that  in  itself  glistened 
— no  fuller  on  earth  could  have  so  illuminated  it. 
What  shone  was  the  Man  within  the  vestment.  The 
face  of  Moses,  when  he  saw  the  skirts  of  God,  was 
radiant  by  reflection;  but  when  Jesus  prayed  to  His 
Father,  His  countenance  glowed  not  with  the  Divinity 
above  it,  but  with  the  Divinity  behind  it.  Here  was 
the  difference  between  the  outside  Light  that  lighteth 
every  man,  and  the  inner  Light  that  is  God's  special 
gift.  He  did  not  need,  like  Herod,  a  sun  to  shine  on 
Him.  He  zvas  the  Sun,  shining  amid  that  darkness. 
He  was  the  Light  of  the  world — the  Light  which 
kindles  every  light  that  truly  shines  among  men. 

Nor  did  His  glory  depend  on  the  applause  of  a  great 
audience.  On  no  fewer  than  three  occasions.  He 
disclosed  what  was  meant  by  His  combat  with  Death. 
One  each  of  these  occasions,  He  limited  the  eye-wit- 
nesses of  His  power  to  three  men  only,  Peter  and 
James  and  John.  They  alone  were  with  Him  when  He 
raised  the  daughter  of  Jairus.  They  alone  were  with 
Him  when  He  talked  with  Moses  and  Elijah  of  His 
approaching  decease.  They  alone  were  with  Him 
when  He  underwent  His  agony  in  the  Garden.  He 
showed  them,  first,  that  death  can  be  conquered.  He 
showed  them,  next,  that  the  greatest  of  men — men  of 
law  and  men  of  prophecy,  men  who  live  the  eternal 
life — desire  the  conquest  of  death.  He  showed  them, 
finally,  that  the  conquest  of  death  is  God's  will  also. 
Yet  they  did  not  understand  it.  When  the  little  girl 
was  given  back  to  her  parents,  the  three  disciples  were 
doubtless  astonished.    But  on  the  Mountain  they  slept, 


DENIED  AND  BETRAYED  237 

and  in  the  Garden  their  skimber  was  so  sound  that 
thrice  He  endeavored  to  awake  them. 

A  Missed  Opportunity. 

The  bitterest  of  His  sorrows  at  that  period  was  the 
sense  that  His  own  friends — having  been  shown  so 
much — did  not  understand  Him.  In  the  end,  He 
won  the  allegiance  of  His  brothers,  but  for  years  they 
refused  belief.  Peter  and  James  and  John  loved  Him 
dearly.  Night  or  day,  they  were  ready  to  follow  Him. 
They  and  the  other  disciples  were  struck  with  grief 
when  He  talked  of  going  up  to  Jerusalem  to  die,  and 
said  that  they  also  would  go  up  to  die  with  Him.  Im- 
mediately before  His  arrest  Peter  repeated  the  assur- 
ance, and  quite  sincerely;  undoubtedly  he  meant  it. 
But  when  it  came  to  the  point,  he  with  the  others  for- 
sook Him  and  fled;  and  when  Peter  returned  to  His 
presence  in  the  judgment-hall,  it  was  only  to  deny  Him 
thrice.  There  came  a  time  when  all  these  Apostles 
were  proud  and  glad  to  suffer  with  Christ,  to  be  cruci- 
fied with  Him,  and  share  the  glory  that  has  radiance 
amid  shame.  But  when,  in  the  flesh.  He  gave  them 
the  opportunity,  telling  them  that  by  losing  life  they 
would  find  it,  they  missed  their  chance.  It  was  alone 
that  He  trod  the  wine-press  whence  flows  our  happi- 
ness. It  was  no  apostle,  but  a  thief,  that  accompanied) 
Him  to  paradise,  and  to  save  that  thief  He  died  first} 
There  was  a  sense  in  which  His  bodily  presence  did  not 
win  His  disciples,  and,  studying  their  failure,  we 
understand  what  He  meant  when  He  said  that  it  was 
expedient — note  that  word,  a  very  strong  one — that  He 
should  go  away;  expedient,  because  then  there  would 
come  to  them  the  Spirit — the  Comforter — to  make 
them  all  that  He  desired  them  to  be. 


238  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

Frequently  we  can  detect  symptoms  of  what  pain 
He  suffered  through  "  His  own."  There  was  Peter 
persuading  Him  to  surrender  Jerusalem  without  a 
struggle;  as  if  there  could  be  one  spot  in  earth  or 
heaven  where  the  writ  of  the  King  of  kings  does  not 
run!  There  was  Peter  again — himself  a  slumberer — 
seeking  to  limit  His  revelation  on  the  Mount  to  himself 
and  his  friends — to  shut  the  Christ  up  in  a  tabernacle, 
as  the  Devil  would  have  set  Him  on  a  pinnacle — mak- 
ing of  Him  no  more  than  another  Moses  and  another 
Elijah,  and  testing  every  circumstance  of  religion,  not 
by  the  question.  What  is  a  saving  faith  for  the  world  ? 
but  by  the  question,  What  is  good  and  comfortable  and 
blessed  for  the  believer?  There  were  James  and  John, 
begging  like  the  Pharisees  for  chief  places  in  the  king- 
dom; and  the  other  disciples,  led  away  by  the  example 
of  the  more  favored  of  their  number,  constantly 
quarreled  as  to  who  should  be  greatest.  As  He  met 
the  parents  of  the  epileptic  boy  whom  they  could  not 
help,  what  hurt  Him  so  terribly  was  the  evidence  that 
they  were  utterly  unable  to  carry  on  His  work.  And 
to  this  disappointment  was  added  later  the  haunting 
fear  that,  sifted  by  Satan  like  wheat,  their  personal 
faith  might  fail.  He  prayed  for  Peter,  He  prayed  for 
them  all,  as  no  mother  has  ever  prayed,  even  for  her 
only  son.  And  His  prayers  availed.  They  were  not 
assisted  by  those  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  nor  by  the  inter- 
cession of  patriarchs.  His  intercessions  were  them- 
selves complete. 

The  uttermost  misery  of  that  time  was  the  treachery 
of  Judas  Iscariot.  Of  the  other  disciples,  we  know 
that  one  was  a  fisherman,  another  was  a  Zealot,  another 
a  civil  servant,  and  so  on.  Judas  was  simply  a  man. 
He  was  a  well-chosen  man,  like  the  other  Apostles. 


DENIED  AND  BETRAYED  239 

Born  and  bred  in  a  village,  his  character  was  excel- 
lent; he  was  vigorous,  and,  to  all  appearances,  he  faith- 
fully fulfilled  his  duty.  Obviously,  there  had  to  be 
somebody  able  and  willing  to  handle  the  finances  of 
the  little  mission.  It  was  so  in  the  Early  Church. 
There  was  nothing  dishonorable  in  the  duty  which 
Jesus  laid  upon  Judas.  And  if  Judas  undertook  it,  this 
showed  that  Jesus  was  never  under  the  necessity  of 
distributing  alms — that  it  was  not  money  which 
uplifted  the  fallen. 

The  Seen  and  the  Unseen. 

John  tells  us  bluntly  that  the  Iscariot  was  guilty  of 
embezzlement.  That  is  a  gross  and  terrible  sin,  but 
it  begins  with  an  error  which  is  quite  common  in  all 
classes  of  society.  Judas  simply  regarded  God's  money 
as  if  it  were  his  own;  he  carried  the  bag,  and  kept  what 
was  put  therein.  One  is  amazed  by  the  little  that  he 
got  out  of  it.  When  he  was  about  to  take  his  life, 
what  he  threw  down  in  the  Temple  was  neither  more 
nor  less  than  thirty  pieces  of  silver,  the  amount  of  his 
bribe;  nor  is  there  one  tittle  of  evidence  that  he  ever 
enriched  himself  beyond  that  sum.  There  is  no 
suggestion  that  this  man  spent  a  farthing  on  himself; 
his  was  not  the  sin  of  Ananias  and  Sapphira,  who 
kept  back  part  of  the  price.  The  trouble  with  him  was 
essentially  that  his  faith  depended  on  endowments; 
that  he  relied  on  the  seen  and  loved  the  seen,  instead 
of  the  unseen — because  he  felt  that  the  seen  belonged 
to  him,  whereas  the  unseen  claimed  him.  He  wanted 
the  power  of  money,  because  that  power  seemed  to 
make  him  independent  of  the  Saviour.  He  would  do 
good  himself,  instead  of  reveaHng  the  good  in  Christ. 
He  began  by  denying  that  adoration  of  the  Saviour  is 


240  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

worth  three  hundred  pence.     He  ended  by  valuing 
the  Saviour's  Hfe  at  thirty  pieces  of  silver. 

And  Jesus,  whose  friendship  was  exquisitely  sensi- 
tive, did  not  once  ask  him  for  a  single  mite.  When 
he  wanted  a  penny  to  illustrate  His  teaching,  it  was 
not  Judas  who  brought  it.  When  He  had  need  of  a 
stater  with  which  to  pay  a  tax,  it  was  to  Peter,  not  to 
Judas,  that  He  turned;  and  He  preferred  the  fish's 
mouth  to  that  purse  with  its  strings  so  tightly  drawn. 
He  was  not  one  who  went  for  money  to  those  who  had 
it.  He  only  loved  the  **  cheerful  giver."  The  estrange- 
ment between  Him  and  Judas  was  unseen  by  others. 
No  one  objected  to  Judas  sitting  with  Him  at  the  Last 
Supper.  When  Judas  went  out,  they  only  thought 
that  he  had  business  to  transact — to  buy  something,  to 
give  something — as  if  any  business  could  have  taken 
precedence  over  communion  with  the  Lord.  The  busi- 
ness, alas,  was  not  buying,  not  giving.  It  was  selling; 
and  he  who  would  have  sold  our  Redeemer's  alabaster 
box  was  now  ready  to  sell  the  Saviour  Himself. 


XXXIII 

HIS  ROYAL  ENTRY 

Joshua   and   Jesus — An   Ass   with  a   Colt — The   Triumphant 
Christ — "  His  Last  Few  Nights." 

I  HAVE  written  in  vain  if  I  have  not  shown  that 
the  events  of  our  Saviour's  life  on  earth  and  of 
His  death — it  may  be  true,  also,  of  our  meaner  lives — 
were  symbols  of  greater  things  beyond.  His  last  jour- 
ney, from  Galilee  to  Jerusalem,  was  not  direct  by  way 
of  Samaria,  through  which  He  passed  three  years 
earlier  on  His  way  from  Jerusalem  to  Galilee.  He 
walked  beyond  Jordan  eastward,  and  so  approached 
the  city  where  He  was  to  die  by  way  of  Joshua's  ford 
over  the  river;  and  passing  through  the  city  of  Jericho, 
on  which  Joshua  laid  a  curse.  He  ascended  by  that 
very  road  where  lay  the  certain  man  who,  in  the  para- 
ble, was  assisted  by  the  Good  Samaritan, 

At  Jacob's  well  He  would  have  united  the  schisms 
of  Israel — the  two  tribes  against  the  ten  tribes,  by 
merging  all  the  denominations  in  one  spiritual  and 
truthful  worship  of  the  one  Father.  But  in  Decapolis 
and  the  regions  beyond  Jordan,  He  ministered  unto 
those  two  and  a  half  tribes,  who  had  preferred  an 
immediate  and  material  blessing  to  the  Promised 
Land  beyond  the  river — the  people  who  are  too  in- 

241 


242  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

diflferent  to  be  unorthodox,  who  merely  lapse  from 
religion;  who  have  no  remedy  for  a  man  possessed 
by  a  devil,  except  to  chain  him,  and  leave  him  in  the 
tombs,  in  the  restraint  of  the  prison,  the  madhouse, 
the  casual  ward.  That  was  the  region  where  they 
valued  swine  more  highly  than  souls — the  swine  typi- 
fying the  illicit  wealth  which  God's  law  condemns. 
When  they  lost  their  swine,  they  did  not  seek  to  stone 
Jesus  or  crucify  Him;  they  merely  besought  Him  to 
leave  their  co^ts.  They  excluded  Him  from  their 
community — it  was  most  politely  done — and  from 
that  day  to  this,  their  country  has  not  counted  in  the 
history  of  mankind.  Grievous  as  were  the  sins  of 
Jerusalem,  it  was  in  Jerusalem,  the  place  of  faith  and 
of  worship,  that  man's  salvation  was  to  be  won. 
It  was  in  Jerusalem,  as  He  expressed  it  in  terrible 
irony,  that  the  Prophet  of  prophets  needs  must  die. 
On  our  battlefields,  in  our  music-halls,  in  our  theaters, 
He  may  be  neglected,  but  it  is  in  our  churches  and 
chapels  that  He  is  crucified  afresh  to-day. 

Joshua  and  Jesus. 

Jesus  and  Joshua  were  namesakes:  they  are  two 
forms  of  one  word,  and  the  meaning  is  "  Jehovah  is 
Saviour."  Joshua  set  himself  to  save  the  people  by 
conquest,  by  statesmanship,  by  the  arm  of  flesh.  It 
was  God's  will  that  this  method  should  be  tried,  and 
Nature  was  bidden  to  assist.  Jordan,  in  flood,  afforded 
a  dry  passage  for  the  invaders.  The  walls  of  the  city 
fell  down  at  the  blast  of  the  trumpet.  The  lot  fell 
unerring  upon  Achan — the  Judas  Iscariot  of  the  Old 
Testament — the  man  to  whom  war  resolves  itself  into 
hidden  profits.  But  the  last  progress  of  Jesus  was 
marked  by  no  such  miracles.    He,  like  the  rest,  had  to 


HIS  ROYAL  ENTRY  243 

wade  through  Jordan.  What  He  destroyed  was  not 
the  walls  of  Jericho,  but  the  walls  of  prejudice  which 
ostracized  Zacchseus,  and  the  walls  of  darkness  that 
enclosed  blind  Bartimaeus.  And  it  was  no  lot  or  dice 
that  detected  Judas,  but  His  all-seeing  eye.  Our 
Saviour,  unlike  Joshua,  did  not  need  to  be  told — He 
knew  who  should  betray  Him.  And  the  traitor 
did  not  need  to  be  stoned.  Craving  no  further  mercy 
than  he  had  received  by  Christ's  companionship,  he 
went  out  and  hanged  himself.  It  is  the  only  case  of 
suicide  in  the  Gospels,  and  it  has  destroyed  for  ever 
the  glamour  of  hari-kiri,  as  practiced  in  Japan,  or  that 
death  of  Socrates  which  the  Stoics  admired  and  imi- 
tated. By  enduring  to  the  end,  our  Saviour  answered 
the  question,  to  all  who  ask  it,  Is  life  worth  living? 
In  Him,  all  life  becomes  worth  while. 

On  the  Mount  of  Olives — that  place  from  which  the 
scene  is  surveyed  in  perspective,  as  God  surveys  it — 
where  one  sees  life  whole,  instead  of  piecemeal.  He 
paused,  the  multitudes  around  Him.  There,  across 
the  valley,  rose  the  Temple,  girt  about  with  the  dwell- 
ings of  men,  the  houses  of  the  home-dwellers,  the  tents 
and  tabernacles  of  the  ingathered  colonists.  The 
mother  country  and  her  dominions  beyond  the  sea 
were  to  keep  Passover  together,  and  to  all  alike  He 
offered  Himself.  On  other  occasions  He  had  attended 
the  feast  privately,  worshiping  without  advertisement 
Him  who  seeth  in  secret;  to-day.  His  entry  must  be 
in  state.  Men  must  realize,  not  His  love  only,  not 
His  power  only — these  they  had  seen  in  His  wonderful 
works — but  His  claim.  They  must  be  brought  to  the 
point  of  deciding  whether  they  will  grant  allegiance 
to  Him,  or  refuse  it. 

As  His  heralds.  He  sent  into  the  city  two  disciples. 


244f  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

His  instructions  to  them  were  precise,  but,  within 
those  orders,  they  were  plenipotentiaries.  To  Herod 
the  king,  to  Pilate  the  general,  to  Annas  and  Caiaphas 
the  prelates,  they  were  to  make  no  appeal.  The 
world  was  to  learn  once  for  all  that  the  Redeemer 
has  no  need  of  patronage  by  the  State,  of  protection 
by  the  Army,  or  of  authorization  by  the  Church.  Any 
man  who  obeys,  is  all  that  He  wants.  It  was  to  "  any 
man  "  that  He  dispatched  His  embassy.  It  was  an 
embassy  illustrious  only  because  He  made  it  so. 

An  Ass  with  a  Colt. 

They  were  to  find  a  place  where  two  ways  met — 
a  place  of  choice,  of  controversy,  of  decision.  At  that 
place,  political  parties  might  encounter  one  another 
and  contend ;  legions  and  battalions  might  engage  in 
bloody  conflict;  sects  might  plunge  into  dialectics; 
rival  processions  might  flaunt  diverse  flags.  There 
the  disciples  would  find  an  ass,  with  a  colt  tied.  Over 
the  ownership  of  those  animals  there  might  be  doubt 
and  controversy.  All  He  said  was  that  He  had  need  of 
them.  Above  all  treaties  and  title-deeds  and  opinions 
rose  unchallengeable  His  supreme  claim.  He  wants 
us,  not  for  service  only,  though  in  Him  we  do  serve. 
He  wants  us  for  Himself — to  be  "  Christophers  " — 
to  be  Christ-bearers.  The  two  ways  meet,  but  we 
take  neither,  for  the  third  way  is  His. 

The  ass  and  the  colt  were  to  be  set  at  liberty. 
Among  those  who  obey  Him,  there  may  be  inexperi- 
ence and  stupidity,  but  there  must  be  freedom.  If  we 
ask  why  His  followers  have  struggled  against  des- 
potism— why  they  have  in  every  country  "  loosed  the 
colt  " — why  they  have  liberated  slave  and  serf  and 
peasant — the  answer  is  not  that  they  institute  license 


HIS  ROYAL  ENTRY  245 

or  abolish  duty;  the  only  liberty  they  should  ever 
desire  is  the  liberty  to  work  with  Him — the  full  right 
to  do  His  good.  Read  the  annals  of  reformation 
and  martyrdom,  and  you  will  find  that  what  brought 
His  witnesses  into  conflict  with  authority  was  always 
their  determination,  not  to  acquire  possessions  or  privi- 
lege, but  to  carry  out  His  wishes.  The  colt,  the  foal 
of  an  ass,  on  which  He  rode,  was  one  on  which  man 
had  never  sat.  It  was  a  simple,  untrained  beast,  but 
it  had  this  particular  virtue — no  one  had  drilled  it  into 
unreasoning  acceptance  of  the  conventions.  Without 
that  drill,  no  ordinary  man  could  have  ridden  the  colt. 
But  the  guidance  of  His  hand,  with  its  touch  of  utter 
understanding,  was  at  once  supreme. 

The  Triumphant  Christ. 

To  His  commandeering  no  exception  was  taken. 
While  the  great  ones  of  the  earth  were  plotting  against 
Him,  this  nameless  owner  of  asses  was  ready,  without 
fee  or  reward,  to  give  whatever  was  required.  He 
did  not  question  our  Lord's  authority,  as  did  the 
Sanhedrin  an  hour  or  two  later;  and  he  therefore 
takes  his  place,  though  nameless — for  there  was  no 
subscription  list — among  the  few,  the  very  few,  who 
freely  helped  our  Lord.  To  this  considerable  extent 
let  us  honor  him.  He  was  a  man  who  would  have 
presented  a  lectern  to  his  parish  church  for  the  glory 
of  God,  without  adding,  "  and  in  memory  of  So-and- 
so."  His  daughter  would  have  tended  the  wounded, 
quite  unphotographed. 

But  to  this  I  must  add  a  word.  He  who  in  silence 
assists  a  nobly-winning  cause  does  well,  but  there 
follows  a  severer  test.  Multitudes  were  ready  to 
strew  their  garments  in  the  way  of  the  triumphant 


J246  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

Christ,  to  sing  hymns  in  His  praise,  to  wave  palm 
branches  where  He  rode — to  act  as  we  do  where  a 
mission  is  successful,  where  a  congregation  is  large, 
where  the  preacher  is  popular  and  the  music  attractive. 
But  when  He  walks  alone  and  in  disgrace,  such  shal- 
low and  momentary  devotion,  however  loyal,  however 
anonymous,  often  fades  away.  There  comes  inevita- 
bly a  time  when  He  calls  for  those  who  will  faithfully 
confess  Him  even  when  He  seems  to  have  failed. 
This  man,  who  lent  his  animals  so  willingly  when 
things  went  well,  was  among  those  who,  in  calamity, 
forsook  Him  and  fled. 

Not  that  our  Lord's  life,  ev^en  at  that  perilous  hour, 
looked  like  "  the  failure "  which  suddenly  over- 
whelmed His  followers.  Here  were  men,  women, 
and  children  who,  in  His  presence,  could  spontane- 
ously sing  His  birthday  anthem — "  Hosanna,  Glory 
to  God  in  the  Highest;  among  men,  peace  and  good- 
will." They  had  really  caught  the  first  syllables  of 
the  Gospel — and  the  song  of  heaven  became  through 
them  the  song  of  earth.  Simple  as  was  their  homage, 
He  accepted  it.  He  would  not  have  these  enthusiastic 
Salvationists  rebuked.  Forbid  them,  said  He,  and 
the  stones  will  cry  out.  And  this  actually  happened. 
The  Jews  were  forbidden  thus  to  praise  Him,  and  it 
is  the  Gentiles  who  now  extol  the  Messiah. 

Would  that  their  service  had  been  as  willing  as 
their  praise!  Ready  enough  to  worship,  they  would 
not  help  Him  to  cleanse  the  Temple.  There  and 
then  they  would  have  crowned  Him;  but  to  turn 
out  the  money-changers — no,  they  would  not  lift  a 
finger.  Yet  it  was  just  the  work  that  was  suited  to 
their  enthusiastic  mood.  It  needed  His  zeal  to 
accomplish  it — the  zeal  that  was  consuming  Him — 


HIS  ROYAL  ENTRY  247 

and  it  would  have  consecrated  their  zeal.  Unlike 
healing  the  sick  and  cleansing  the  lepers,  it  required 
no  special  grace.  It  was  the  kind  of  reform  that 
right-minded  politicians  constantly  undertake  and 
carry  through.  His  retinue  merely  looked  on.  He 
left  the  city  that  evening  without  a  cheer.  Passing 
a  fig-tree,  He  sought  fruit  on  it,  but  found  nothing 
but  leaves.  At  His  word,  the  tree  withered  in  a 
night — so  demonstrating  that  all  things  are  judged 
in  the  end  by  their  usefulness  to  Him.  And  we  have 
that  unforgettable  picture  of  Him,  looking  on  the 
city,  with  its  Temple  and  walls  and  pinnacles,  and 
weeping  over  the  place.  For  His  was  no  cold  and  re- 
morseless system  of  creeds.  He  shared  our  patriot- 
ism. Not  one  of  us  has  loved  his  country  so  loyally 
as  He  loved  Judea.  Nor  did  He  once  give  way  to  the 
bitterness  of  justified  resentment.  Whatever  hard 
things  He  said,  were  the  faithful  wounds  of  a  Friend. 

"  His  Last  Few  Nights." 

With  crisis  impending,  there  is  a  strange  irony  in 
the  arguments  that  were  forced  upon  Him  by  men 
who  should  have  fallen  on  their  knees  and  craved 
His  pardon  for  their  sins.  The  ethics  of  taxation, 
the  basis  of  divorce,  the  nature  of  life  after  death — 
He  dealt  with  them  all,  and  His  judgments  on  these 
matters  are  immortal.  But  we  realize  what  a  contrast 
there  is  between  these  wrangles,  so  wickedly  provoked, 
and  His  message  at  a  previous  feast:  "If  any  man 
thirst,  let  him  come  unto  Me  and  drink."  Even  His 
sermons  or  discourses  were  limited,  as  it  were,  by 
the  heart-readiness  of  those  who  listened,  and  the 
time  was  near  at  hand  when  He  would  be  reduced  to 
absolute  silence. 


248  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

The  main  body  of  His  final  teaching  was  committed 
to  a  very  few,  not  at  Jerusalem,  but  at  Bethany, 
where  He  spent  His  evenings  and  slept  His  last  nights. 
It  was  a  village  without  history,  without  architecture, 
without  social  or  strategic  importance — the  kind  of 
hamlet  that  disappears  under  the  hammering  of 
artillery — but  although  nobody  prophesied  about 
Bethany,  and  nobody  goes  there  on  pilgrimage,  it  has 
this  distinction — there  alone  did  Jesus  feel  at  ease. 
Bethlehem  and  Nazareth  and  Jerusalem  all  rejected 
Him;  in  Bethany,  He  could  speak  or  remain  silent,  as 
He  wished;  He  was  never  weary,  without  resting; 
He  was  never  hungry,  without  receiving  meat.  There, 
in  Bethany,  one  really  sees  what  He  meant  by  God's 
kingdom  coming  upon  earth. 


XXXIV 
BETHANY!  FAREWELL 

The  Alabaster  Box—"  At  the  Table  with  Him." 

THE  last  six  days  of  our  Lord's  life  on  earth  were 
what  the  Jews  called  the  Passover,  and  what 
we  now  call  Holy  Week.  He  spent  those  days  ardu- 
ously in  Jerusalem,  but  at  night,  as  we  have  seen,  He 
walked  to  Bethany,  a  distance  of  two  miles,  and  there 
slept.  It  was  a  hurried  and  complex  existence,  not 
unlike  the  lives  of  those  millions  who,  in  our  own 
times,  go  forth  in  the  morning  on  foot  or  by  train  or 
tram  to  earn  their  bread,  returning  home  weary  at 
night.  Amid  that  stress  and  strain.  He  did  not  once 
lose  touch  with  faith  and  prayer  and  Scripture. 

That  little  village  of  Bethany  is  not  mentioned  in 
the  Old  Testament.  It  has  not  interested  either  the 
prophet  or  the  historian,  nor  does  it  attract  the  pilgrim. 
It  was  no  temple  nor  synagogue  that  drew  Him  thither, 
but  a  family  of  two  sisters  and  a  brother,  who  made 
Him  welcome,  and  with  whom  He  felt  at  home. 
Martha  and  Mary  and  Lazarus  were  not  among  the 
apostles  and  martyrs.  They  did  not  rank  as  clergy, 
ministers,  missionaries,  monks,  or  nuns.  They  did  not 
at  that  time  give  up  houses  and  lands  and  business 
for   His   sake.     But,   of   their   substance   and   their 

249 


250  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

thought,  they  provided  for  Him  somewhere  to  lay 
His  head.  In  loving  them,  with  a  natural  brotherly 
affection,  He  added  His  sanction  to  all  noble  friend- 
ship and  kindly  hospitality.  Bethany  offered  to  Him 
everything  that  is  possible  on  earth — of  boundless 
devotion  and  intimate  understanding.  He  was  invited 
into  the  family.  If  He  had  turned  aside  from  saving 
us,  He  might  have  spent  there  a  long,  happy,  and 
valuable  life.  We  talk  much  of  what  it  cost  Him  to 
leave  His  Home  on  high;  let  us  not  forget  also  the 
wrench  which  parted  Him  at  the  last  from  Lazarus 
and  his  sisters. 

Martha's  ideal  was  service.  She  was  an  organizer. 
Her  love  expressed  itself  mainly  through  the  material. 
In  Mary  of  Bethany,  we  see  woman  not  only  as  a 
housewife  and  worker  at  committees  and  sewing 
parties,  but  as  a  living  soul.  She  found  time  to  sit  at 
our  Lord's  feet  and  listen.  Listening,  she  believed 
Him.  She  realized,  better  than  anyone  else,  that  this 
was  His  farewell  visit.  She  was  like  a  sister  bravely 
bidding  good-by  to  a  brother  home  for  his  last  leave. 
She  did  not  seek,  like  Peter,  to  hold  the  Saviour  back. 
She  accepted  His  word  that  He  must  die.  And  with 
a  courage  that  will  comfort  many  of  her  sisters  to-day, 
she  lavished  her  wealth  upon  Him  freely,  not  reserving 
her  spices  for  His  burial,  as  we  sometimes  reserve  our 
wreaths,  but  letting  Him  know  while  He  was  yet  alive 
how  much  He  was  to  her. 

The  Alabaster  Box. 

Some  friends  have  kindly  written  to  me  about  the 
incident  of  the  alabaster  box,  and  I  think  rightly.  The 
subject  is  not  free  from  difficulty,  but  it  seems  clear 
that  our  Lord  was  thus  anointed,  not  once,  but  twice. 


BETHANY!  FAREWELL  251 

On  the  first  occasion  the  woman  was  a  sinner  of  "  the 
city,"  possibly  Capernaum,  possibly  Nain.  The  host 
was  Simon,  a  Pharisee.  The  objection  raised  was  not 
the  value  of  the  gift,  but  the  character  of  the  giver. 
On  the  second  occasion,  the  host  was  Simon  the  Leper. 
The  place  was  Bethany.  The  woman  was  Mary,  whose 
sister  Martha  was  serving.  The  objection  raised  was 
not  Mary's  character,  which  was  stainless,  but  the 
waste  of  the  ointment.  Here  is,  I  think,  a  clear  differ- 
entiation, and  I  am  not  concerned  to  press  the  tradi- 
tion, which  is  not  confirmed  by  any  direct  statement, 
that  the  sinful  woman  was,  in  fact,  Mary  Magdalene. 
For  a  comparison  of  the  two  incidents  is  sufficiently 
wonderful  without  dramatic  embellishment.  Here 
was  Mary  of  Bethany,  in  the  beauty  of  her  holiness, 
content  to  display  the  same  repentance,  the  same 
adoration,  as  the  most  tempted,  the  most  despised  of 
her  sex  in  the  cruel  world  beyond  her  sheltered  home. 
And  here  was  Judas,  grudging  the  Friend  with  whom 
he  had  been  associated  for  years  the  gift  which,  in 
itself,  did  not  arouse  any  criticism  from  Simon  the 
Pharisee,  a  casual  acquaintance. 

Our  Lord  assured  Mary  that  hers  was  the  better 
part,  which  should  not  be  taken  away  from  her.  At 
our  meals,  we  think  so  much  of  the  food,  so  little  of 
the  table  talk;  yet  it  is  the  talk  which  is  eternal. 
The  time  was  at  hand  when  no  one,  not  even  Martha, 
would  be  able  to  minister  to  the  bodily  needs  of  the 
Saviour,  but  when  none  the  less  we  all  may  sit  at  His 
feet  and  listen.  It  was  trouble  that  tested  the  contrast 
between  these  sisters.  When  Lazarus  fell  ill,  both  of 
them  sent  for  Jesus.  When  their  brother  died,  in 
both  their  hearts  there  arose  the  thought — remarkable 
in  its  complete  reliance  on  His  power  over  disease — 


252  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

that  it  would  not  have  happened  if  He  had  been  there. 
But  Martha  hurried  forth  to  meet  Him  with  her 
complaint.  When  He  promised  her  that  Lazarus 
should  rise  again,  she  argued;  and  by  mentioning 
"  the  last  day,"  limited  His  present  power,  acknowl- 
edging that  He  could  heal  the  sick,  but  not  believing 
that  He  could  raise  the  dead. 

Between  Mary's  conduct  and  our  Lord's  there  was, 
on  the  other  hand,  an  exquisite  correspondence.  He 
had  waited  two  days  where  He  was.  She  on  her  side 
sat  still  in  the  house,  not  going  to  Him  till  He  called 
her;  when — unlike  Martha — she  fell  at  His  feet 
and  uttered  her  sincere  doubts  only  as  part  of  her 
worship.  To  Martha,  our  Lord  had  to  reveal  Himself 
as  the  Christ  of  God,  drawing  from  her  that  confession 
of  faith.  Mary's  worship  was  spontaneous;  and  what 
troubled  Him  was  her  sorrow,  not  the  obscurity  of  her 
belief.  Faced  by  the  dominion  of  death,  with  its 
dreadful  accompaniment  of  tears.  He  groaned  in  spirit ; 
He  also  wept.  When  David  lost  his  friend  Jonathan 
his  grief  was  impotent,  and  for  his  son  Absalom  he 
would  have  died,  but  could  not.  David's  greater  Son, 
faced  by  the  same  situation,  shared  the  sorrow,  but 
stood  forth  in  majesty  as  the  Resurrection  and  the 
Life.  In  the  person  of  His  friend.  He  conquered  death. 
The  home  at  Bethany  that  He  entered  was  simple, 
but  none  the  less  did  He  reign  there,  in  omnipotent 
splendor,  as  Lord  of  this  life  and  of  the  life  to  come. 

"  At  the  Table  with  Him." 

Lazarus  behaved  with  the  discretion  of  a  loyal 
humility.  Owing  his  life  to  Jesus,  he  did  not  boast, 
or  ask  to  be  included  with  the  Twelve — still  less  seek 
to  be  the  greatest.    We  only  read  of  him  that  he  sat 


BETHANY!  FAREWELL  253 

at  meat  with  Jesus,  so  enjoying  the  company  of  the 
Highest.  But  his  mere  presence  was  a  difficulty  to 
the  Rabbis.  Here,  while  these  men  sought  to  kill 
their  Messiah,  was  this  same  Messiah  raising  His 
friend  from  the  dead.  It  dawned  upon  the  Sanhedrin 
that  Christ  is  not  crushed  until  all  who  believe  in  Him, 
to  the  very  humblest,  are  slain.  He  does  not  work 
by  the  majority — His  power  and  His  Gospel  are  safe 
while  one  true  disciple  breathes  on  earth.  They  did 
not  worry  about  those  who  had  a  passing  knowledge  of 
Him;  the  only  disciple  who  counted  in  that  crisis  was 
the  disciple  who  had  tested  His  uttermost  power. 
The  Twelve,  still  of  worldly  mind  and  ambition,  had 
not  yet  become  formidable.  But  Lazarus,  the  harbinger 
of  resurrection,  must  be  slain,  if  possible,  a  second 
time. 

For,  as  one  reads  the  records  of  these  days,  one 
gains  the  impression  that  our  Lord  was  not  an  In- 
dividual, leading  a  revolt  against  established  authority. 
We  feel  that  He  was  actually  King;  and  that  the  re- 
bellion was  not  His,  but  the  Jews'.  Of  His  Kingdom 
there  was  no  end.  In  Lazarus,  He  was  vanquisher  of 
the  tomb.  In  Simon  the  Leper,  He  conquered  plague. 
The  blind  and  the  lame  came  to  Him,  and  again  He 
healed  them.  The  fig-tree  which  failed  in  allegiance 
to  Him  withered.  We  sometimes  think  that  His  teach- 
ing was  spread  evenly  over  the  three  years  of  His 
ministry.  But  at  least  half  of  it,  as  recorded,  was 
reserved  for  those  three  days  of  rule  in  Jerusalem. 
His  output  of  mind  and  soul  surpasses  comprehension. 
He  entered  the  city  royally.  He  cleansed  the  Temple. 
He  dealt  with  the  fig-tree.  He  worked  miracles.  He 
poured  forth  parables — of  the  vineyard,  the  chief  cor- 
ner-stone, the  marriage-feast,  the  virgins,  the  talents, 


254  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

the  sheep  and  goats.  He  mourned  over  Jerusalem; 
He  prophesied  her  doom.  He  foreshadowed  His  Sec- 
ond Coming.  He  denounced  the  scribes  and  Pharisees. 
All  their  questions  He  answered.  While  He  spoke 
of  the  faith  that  removes  mountains,  He  did  not  for- 
get the  widow's  mite.  The  world,  wrote  John,  could 
not  contain  the  books  that  might  be  written  of  what 
He  said  and  did.  Indeed,  the  heaven  of  heavens  is 
not  enough  for  His  library.  And  when  Pilate  wrote 
over  His  cross  that  He  was  King  of  the  Jews,  it  was 
the  truth.  For  those  few  days  nobody  could  resist 
Him.  He  had  no  army,  no  navy,  no  police,  no  palace; 
but  He  was,  none  the  less,  supreme.  And  supreme 
He  remained  until  the  end. 


XXXV 

THE  PASSOVER  OF  THE  JEWS 

Lifted  Up  to  Die — The  Betrayal — Loved  to  the  End. 

IN  these  days,  some  read  of  the  Mosaic  ritual  as  if 
it  were  a  dead  language,  far  too  hard  for  us  to 
understand.  Yet  the  Passover  can  never  be  for  us 
mere  history,  for  it  was  our  Lord's  last  meal  before 
He  died,  and  on  the  great  day  of  Atonement  He  lay 
in  His  grave.  This  feast  is  modern  as  well  as  ancient, 
because  it  is  eternal.  Originating  in  the  Exodus,  it 
has  survived  the  turmoil  of  the  Judges,  the  glories  of 
Solomon,  the  Captivity,  the  Maccabean  Wars,  and 
even  the  final  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and  it  is  still 
observed  by  Jews — a  race  growing  ever  more  numer- 
ous— wherever  they  dwell.  In  these  ceremonial  records 
there  lurks  the  very  secret  of  our  salvation,  and  out  of 
it  sprang  the  Lord's  Supper  or  Holy  Communion. 

Public  worship,  as  celebrated  at  Jerusalem,  was 
among  the  wonders  of  the  world.  The  Apostles  had 
to  seek  out  the  Gentiles,  and  win  them,  one  by  one; 
but  in  John  xii.  we  read  of  Greeks  gathering  in  the 
Temple  of  their  own  free  will  to  worship  at  the  Pass- 
over feast.  It  was  a  historic  scene.  The  Passover 
was  the  festival  which  marked  the  beginning  of 
months,  the  new  life,  the  fresh  start,  the  regeneration 

255 


^256  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

of  men's  souls.  Yet  it  was  not  to  Annas  and  Caiaphas 
that  the  Greeks  made  their  appeal.  They  knew  well 
enough  that  from  the  Temple  they  were  excluded. 
Some  other  victim  than  these  inaccessible  bulls  and 
goats  seemed  to  be  needed,  and  the  pagans  turned  to 
that  Lamb — the  Lamb  of  God — which  was  slain  from 
the  foundation  of  the  world.  Years  before,  at  the 
Jordan,  Andrew  and  Philip  had  been  men  who  liked 
to  talk  about  the  Christ.  They  now  met  the  Greeks, 
who  said,  "  We  would  see  Jesus,"  and  Jesus  was  told 
about  it.  "  Him  that  cometh  unto  Me,"  He  had  de- 
clared, "  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out."  The  Greeks 
filled  Him  with  a  sudden  joy. 

Lifted  Up  to  Die. 

In  those  men,  our  Lord  saw  the  promise  of  world- 
evangelization.  Here  at  last  was  the  hour  when  He 
would  be  glorified — the  streak  of  dawn  amid  the  dark- 
ness. He  might  have  left  Jerusalem  and  turned,  like 
Paul,  there  and  then,  to  the  Gentiles.  With  His 
healing  wisdom,  what  a  missionary  He  would  have 
been!  But  He  did  not  leave  Jerusalem.  We  do  not 
know  that  He  actually  met  the  Greeks.  With  a 
trouble  of  soul  that  He  did  not  conceal,  the  corn  of 
wheat.  He  said,  must  first  fall  into  the  ground  and 
die  (ver.  24).  The  life  must  first  be  lost — nay,  hated. 
What  He  came  for,  was  to  endure  the  cross.  Only  as 
lifted  thereon  would  He  draw  men  unto  Him.  As 
Paul  had  to  learn,  there  is  no  Christ  to  be  preached 
except  Christ  crucified. 

Some  have  compared  the  approach  of  these  Greeks 
from  the  West  with  the  approach  of  the  Wise  Men 
from  the  East.  The  Wise  Men  were  oflFered  the 
Cradle,  where  life  is  granted.    The  Greeks  were  offered 


THE  PASSOVER  OF  THE  JEWS         257 

the  Cross,  where  life  is  laid  down.  The  trouble  with 
the  East  has  been  a  deficiency  of  life;  there  is  oppres- 
sion, lethargy,  acquiescence.  And  the  East  receives 
the  Babe.  In  the  West,  the  trouble  is  not  a  deficiency 
of  life,  but  a  barbaric  and  undisciplined  vigor.  To 
the  West  is  granted  the  Crucified  One.  To  all  of  us, 
He  thus  comes  as  what  we  specially  need.  He  cor- 
rects our  despair  with  His  Childhood;  He  tempers  our 
confidence  with  His  Sufferings, 

Yet — as  He  turned  from  those  Greeks  to  die — He 
was  tried  by  misgivings.  What  if — by  His  death — 
God  should  be  obscured  ?  He  did  not  dally  with  doubt 
or  hesitate.  He  killed  it  with  a  prayer  at  once,  instant 
and  audible.  "  Father,"  He  cried,  "  glorify  Thy 
name  " — do  not  let  that  be  disgraced  by  the  Cross. 
The  people  heard  what  they  took  to  be  thunder.  Little 
as  they  realized  it,  here  was  thunder  which  still  rever- 
berates round  the  world,  never  louder  than  to-day — the 
roar  of  artillery,  the  crash  of  empires,  the  ruin  of 
thrones.  Some  vaguely  discerned  a  voice  amid  the 
noise — an  angel's  voice,  louder  than  man's;  but  what 
Christ  heard  was  the  speaking  of  God.  "  I  have  glori- 
fied it,"  said  the  Father,  "  and  will  glorify  it  again." 

There  was  a  reason  why  the  priests  did  not  care  to 
explain  the  Passover  to  the  Gentiles.  It  was  a  hum- 
bling ordinance,  that  reminded  the  proudest  of  his  sin. 
The  Israelites  were  saved  from  the  destroying  angel, 
not  because  they  were  better  than  the  Egyptians,  but 
because  a  little  lamb,  only  a  year  old,  was  slain.  How- 
ever fine  the  house,  the  angel  only  passed  over  it  when 
the  blood  of  this  lamb  was  sprinkled  on  the  lintel  and 
sideposts  of  the  door.  They  who  would  be  safe  had 
to  enter  by  that  shed  blood,  as  a  Roman  soldier, 
when  conquered,  had  to  pass  under  the  yoke.     The 


258  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

sprinkling  must  he  by  hyssop,  •  a  mere  weed  in  the 
wall,  in  itself  worthless — showing  that  here  is  a  matter 
where  money  and  art  and  intellect  are  of  no  avail — all 
of  us  have  equally  come  short,  all  must  be  saved 
freely,  or  not  at  all.  The  will  alone  counted — did 
they  or  did  they  not  take  the  hyssop,  equally  available 
for  rich  and  poor,  and  obey  the  command?  And 
salvation  was  not  an  ecclesiastical  but  a  domestic, 
a  personal  event.  It  was  a  deliverance  of  the  home. 
It  was  from  the  home  that  leaven — the  leaven  of  un- 
righteousness— had  to  be  scrupulously  removed.  The 
outward  confession  on  the  "  doorpost  and  lintel " 
must  correspond  with  inward  amendment  in  cup- 
board and  kitchen!  Moreover,  the  lamb  thus  slain 
for  atonement  remained  in  the  home  for  sustenance. 
But  they  must  eat  it,  not  with  the  luxury  of  leeks  and 
garlics  and  onions,  but  with  the  bitter  herbs  of  a 
sincere  sorrow  for  sin,  and  with  loins  girded,  shoes  on 
the  feet,  staff  in  hand,  as  for  a  long  journey  eastwards 
to  a  better  country,  where  lies  the  d^wn.  To  obtain 
strength  for  that  pilgrimage,  each  must  partake  for 
himself.  None  must  rely  on  his  own  resources — else 
would  he  fall  by  the  way. 

If  these  had  been  the  thoughts  of  the  Jews,  they 
also,  like  the  Greeks,  would  have  desired  to  see  the 
Saviour.  But  their  minds,  not  being  repentant, 
could  not  teach  repentance  to  others.  They  were 
otherwise  occupied.  Nicodemus,  having  made  his 
protest  in  the  Sanhedrin,  was  now  silenced;  and 
despite  the  influence  of  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  there 
was  no  open  dissent  from  a  resolution  definitely  con- 
demning Christ  to  death.  Even  at  that  eleventh 
hour,  our  Lord  did  not  leave  these  men  unwarned  of 
the  consequences.    He  told  them  that  after  His  death 


THE  PASSOVER  OF  THE  JEWS         259 

nation  would  rise  against  nation  and  kingdom  against 
kingdom;  that  wars  and  rumors  of  wars  would  curse 
the  world;  until,  amid  the  clouds  of  fire  and  smoke, 
the  Son  of  Man  would  return  to  reign  in  power  and 
great  glory.  But  His  voice  was  not  heeded.  The 
Sanhedrin  was  composed  of  statesmen.  What  en- 
grossed their  minds  was,  not  the  eternal  judgment  of 
God,  but  a  possible  uproar  among  the  people,  the  day 
after  to-morrow.  When  Galileans  became  unruly  in 
the  Temple,  Pontius  Pilate  had  a  habit  of  making 
short  work  of  them.  Therefore,  said  these  oppor- 
tunists, we  must  indeed  kill  Christ,  only  we  must  do  it 
quietly,  not  on  the  feast  day,  but  by  Icttre  de  cachet. 
He  must  simply  disappear,  the  crowds  must  lose  sight 
of  Him  and  forget  Him.  It  was  the  old  delusion, 
that  because  men  can  do  wrong,  therefore  they  are 
able  by  ingenuity  to  avoid  results. 

The  Betrayal. 

It  meant  that  if  nothing  was  done  before  the  feast- 
day,  the  crisis  would  blow  over  until  the  following 
week,  perhaps  for  a  longer  period,  as  had  happened 
more  than  once.  This,  then,  was  the  moment  when 
Judas  proceeded  straight  from  the  supper  in  Simon's 
house  and  obtained  an  interview  with  the  chief  priests. 
They  were  glad  to  see  him.  It  was  indeed  a  prov- 
idential coincidence  that  one  of  the  Nazerene's 
disciples  should  be  open  to  bribery.  They  made 
their  terms  with  Judas :  it  was  to  be  payment  by  re- 
sults; thirty  pieces  of  silver  if  and  when  Jesus  should 
be  given  into  their  hands.  And  thus  it  was,  in  mysti- 
cism quite  unconscious,  that  they  bought  for  money — 
the  sacred  money  of  the  Temple — the  One  True  Pas- 
chal Lamb,  who  would  take  away  the  sin  of  the  world. 


260  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

John  tells  us  that  Judas  was  a  thief;  and,  taking 
his  words  in  their  plain  sense,  we  learn  that  dishonesty 
of  every  kind  is  not  an  offense  against  property  only 
— that  is  the  least  aspect  of  it;  it  may  be  a  betrayal 
of  the  Redeemer.  Far  happier  was  the  convicted 
thief  on  the  cross,  who  sinned,  not  knowing  Him,  than 
the  thief  who  sold  his  Friend.  And  here  let  me  make 
a  remark  which  brings  this  narrative  to  bear  on  our 
actual  customs  and  habits.  Without  dreaming  of 
the  Iscariot's  danger,  the  Apostles  left  him  in  sole 
charge  of  funds  for  which  all  were  responsible.  They 
were  like  people  who  leave  money  about  where  there 
are  untrustworthy  servants.  They  did  not  repeat 
the  mistake.  Although  before  He  died,  Jesus  gave 
them  leave  to  carry  purses  and  swords,  yet,  endowed 
with  the  Spirit,  they  of  the  Early  Church  did  not 
appoint  one  deacon  only  as  trustee,  but  seven.  In 
money  matters  they  became  as  careful  as  any  ex- 
perienced man  of  business,  to  avoid  needless  tempta- 
tion. There  was  no  second  Judas,  dishonest  but  un- 
discovered. The  detection  of  Ananias  and  Sapphira 
was  instant  and  conclusive. 

Loved  to  the  End. 

To  the  end,  Jesus  held  out  His  hand  to  save 
the  Iscariot.  He  admitted  Judas  to  the  innermost 
friendship  of  Bethany.  He  made  him  welcome  at 
the  Last  Supper.  And,  knowing  from  the  first  that 
the  man  was  a  traitor,  He  framed  His  warnings  with 
a  tender  tact  that  appealed  to  the  guilty  apostle, 
without  repelling  him.  Many  months  before  the 
catastrophe,  He  remarked,  in  general  terms,  that 
there  were  some,  even  of  His  intimate  friends,  who 
did  not  believe.     While  He  was  still  in  Galilee,  He 


THE  PASSOVER  OF  THE  JEWS         261 

said,  still  in  general  terms,  that  He  would  be  betrayed. 
On  the  final  evening,  when  He  washed  the  disciples' 
feet,  He  added,  as  if  casually :  "  Ye  are  clean — but 
not  all." 

A  few  minutes  later — when  Judas  still  held  out — 
He  astounded  them  with  the  terrible  declaration: 
"  Verily,  one  of  you  shall  betray  Me."  The  words 
were  unmistakable,  but  how  careful  was  our  Lord 
not  to  disgrace  the  Iscariot!  The  Apostles  accused 
themselves,  not  him;  and  even  when  Judas  had 
taken  the  sop,  they  did  not  guess  the  truth.  That 
sop  was  the  last  token  of  a  love  unto  death.  How 
could  Judas  play  Him  false  after  that?  They  two 
had  dipped  their  hands  in  the  same  dish,  "  Good  were 
it,"  added  the  Saviour — and  we  feel  the  emphasis  of 
it — "  for  that  man  if  he  had  never  been  born."  Even 
then,  two  men  only  beside  Judas — that  is  Peter  and 
John — realized  the  tragedy.  And  they  were  speech- 
less. For  Judas,  looking  Jesus  in  the  face,  asked 
calmly :  "  Master,  is  it  I  ?  "  to  which  the  answer  was : 
"  Thou  hast  said."    Judas  pronounced  his  own  doom. 

His  appalling  courage  was  Satanic.  He  rose  to  go, 
with  so  cool  an  assurance  that  most  of  those  present 
assumed  that  he  was  to  buy  something  for  the  feast, 
or  give  alms  to  the  poor.  "  What  thou  doest,  do 
quickly,"  said  our  Lord;  and  as  the  unhappy  man 
opened  the  door,  they  noticed — these  little  details  live 
in  the  memory — that  time  had  passed  since  they  en-*^ 
tered  the  upper  room;  it  zvas  night.  "What  thou 
doest,"  said  He,  "  do  quickly."  He,  like  the  priests, 
desired  that  all  should  be  "  finished  "  before  the  dawn 
of  the  great  day  of  Atonement. 

With  Judas  there.  He  was  oppressed  and  troubled. 
With  him  gone.  He  seemed  to  heave  a  sigh  of  relief. 


262  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

"  Now,"  cried  He,  "  is  the  Son  of  Man  glorified." 
And  it  is  an  astonishing  ilkistration  of  this  scene  that 
to  this  day  milHons  of  educated  people  will  not  sit 
thirteen  at  a  table  lest  there  be  hidden  treachery  or 
some  other  trouble  in  store  for  them.  It  is  the  truth 
coming  to  us  through  the  distorted  medium  of  igno- 
rance and  superstition. 


XXXVI 

THE  CLOSING  HYMN 

The  Upper  Room — The  Elements — The  Water  of  Cleansing — 
The  Eleven. 

AND  now  in  all  reverence  and  gratitude  let  us 
consider  what  really  happened  at  this  last 
supper  of  our  Blessed  Lord.  It  was  not  with  His 
friends  at  Bethany  that  He  spent  this  final  evening, 
but  with  "  the  Twelve  "  whom  He  had  chosen,  one  of 
whom,  as  He  had  said,  was  a  devil.  Some  of  them 
might  be  rough  of  speech;  others  addicted  to  jealousy; 
others,  again,  unwatchful  against  temptation;  and  all 
equally  disinclined  to  serve  one  another  in  menial 
duties.  But  He  had  chosen  them,  and  claimed  their 
company.  The  question  with  Him  was  not  what  they 
were,  but  what  He  could  make  of  them. 

As  one  thinks  how  communion  with  Plim  has  been 
•obscured  by  priestly  pretensions  and  ecclesiastical 
rivalries — churches  contending  with  one  another,  as 
did  "  the  Twelve,"  which  shall  be  the  greatest — one 
feels  how,  through  all  the  centuries,  His  table,  where  [ 
Judas  ssat,  has  been  spread  in  the  presence  of  enemies.  • 
What  He  meant  was  so  simple.  He  asked  two  of 
the  disciples  to  prepare  for  Him  the  Passover.  On 
entering  Jerusalem,   they  would  meet,  not  a  Rabbi 

263 


264  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

or  a  Levite,  but  just  an  ordinary  man,  to  all  appear- 
ance, going  about  his  work — or  what  the  Psalmist 
would  call  his  "  way  " — with  a  pitcher  on  his  shoulder, 
in  which  vessel,  perhaps,  was  the  very  water  that  our 
Lord  would  need  to  pour  over  the  disciples'  feet. 
jHere,  again,  was  a  nameless  follower  of  the  Master, 
jwho  said  nothing  about  religion,  but  was  quite  ready, 
when  asked,  to  lend  his  upper  room.  There  are  such 
men  all  around  us,  if  only  we  can  show  them  what  it 
is  that  Christ  needs  from  them.  It  was  Christ's  plan 
to  take  common  duties  and  transform  them  into 
God's  service. 

The  Upper  Room. 

What  He  required  was  that  upper  room.  He  showed 
that  His  Communion  does  not  depend  on  a  consecrated 
building,  or  altar,  or  chancel.  The  room  was  already 
furnished,  and  the  furniture  was  entirely  of  the  home. 
It  had  been  used  and  would  be  used  again  for  domestic 
purposes.  It  was  around  such  a  table  that  they  sat, 
or,  in  Eastern  fashion,  reclined.  Between  Him  and 
them  there  was  no  rood-screen  or  other  dividing  bar- 
rier. The  beloved  disciple  lay  on  His  bosom,  and  could 
catch  His  lightest  whisper.  We  do  not  read  of  candles 
or  incense  or  vestments,  for  He  Himself  was  clearly 
seen  and  clearly  heard,  and  this  was  enough.  There 
was  indeed  a  genuflection,  but  it  was  He  who  knelt  in 
Divine  humility  at  the  feet  of  His  friends.  But  the 
circumstances  of  that  solemn  meal — the  dish  whence 
was  drawn  the  sop,  and  the  hour  when  the  supper  took 
place — should  warn  us  against  the  habit  of  laying  em- 
phasis on  the  material  side  of  these  deep  happenings. 
There  is  no  suggestion  of  a  fasting  Communion,  and 
the  service  was  held,  not  in  the  morning,  but  at  night. 


THE  CLOSING  HYMN  265 

We  should  notice,  moreover,  that  both  here  and 
after  He  had  risen  Jesus  was  present  with  His  disciples 
before  any  blessing  was  pronounced  on  bread  and 
wine.  It  was  no  word — no  formula,  however  sacred — 
that  drew  Him  to  His  own.  He  was  among  them  first, 
and  it  was  because  this  was  so  that  He  could  give  His 
blessing.  The  occasion  was  not  ecclesiastical,  but,  in 
a  sense,  universal  for  those  who  love  Him.  It  was  so 
painted  by  Leonardo  da  Vinci,  who  shows  us  the 
disciples,  not  in  worship,  but  in  conversation — rather 
unedifying  until  He  took  part,  when  gradually  other 
voices  were  hushed,  and  perhaps  His  alone  was  heard. 
When  we  say  grace  at  meals,  we  invite  Him  to  grant 
us  His  real  presence;  and  there  is,  I  am  told,  at  Aln- 
wick Castle  a  chair  always  left  vacant  for  Him  to 
occupy  when  He  comes  again. 

The  Elements. 

Now,  as  then.  His  are  always  the  abundant  bless- 
ings. His  Spirit  is  like  wind  and  flame.  His  is  the 
water  of  life,  flowing  freely  as  a  river.  And  so  He 
took  bread,  the  commonest  of  foods,  with  wine,  which 
was  then  the  universal  drink,  to  hallow  both.  In  the 
material  sense  there  was  no  miracle.  He  did  not  mul- 
tiply the  bread.  He  meant  the  water  in  the  waterpot 
for  other  purposes  than  a  change  into  wine,  as  at  Cana. 
His  aim  was  no  longer  to  satisfy  physical  hunger — 
to  lavish  yet  more  loaves  and  fishes;  but  to  show  us 
that  a  mere  morsel,  when  we  take  it  from  His  hand,  a 
mere  drop  or  two  that  He  has  blessed,  are  more 
precious  than  all  the  luxuries  that  wealth  can  procure. 
And  amid  the  ceremonial  that  now  surrounds  His 
ordinance,  we  may,  at  least,  say  this — however 
many  jewels  there  may  be  on  the  paten  and  chalice, 


266  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

bread  remains  simple  bread,  wine  remains  wine.  No 
prelate,  no  theologian,  has  been  able  to  alter  those 
"  elements  " — note  the  word,  for  it  brings  us  back  to 
our  position  as  His  "  children  " — which  are  of  His 
will.    The  "  elementary  "  love  is  what  we  need. 

As  His  body  was  to  be  broken,  so  broke  He  the 
bread.  As  His  blood  was  to  be  shed,  so  poured  He 
forth  the  wine.  He  wished  it  to  be  clear  that  He  died 
willingly  because  He  died  for  us.  He  would  have  us 
thus  show  forth  His  death  till  He  comes  again,  so  that 
what  moved  Him  to  endure  the  cross  may  never  be  in 
doubt.  "  This  do,"  said  He,  "  in  remembrance  of 
,  Me  " — not  as  a  test  of  orthodoxy,  not  as  a  sacrifice 
<  for  sin,  not  as  expiation  for  the  dead,  not  as  a  prepara- 
tion for  judgment — do  it  only  as  "  remembrance." 
He  who  had  called  on  them  to  follow  Him,  to  do 
mighty  works  in  His  Name,  to  give  up  family  and 
lands  for  His  sake,  asked  now  for  no  more  than  a 
place  in  their  recollection.  And  even  this  has  been 
denied  by  many  of  us  to  the  Christ  we  forget.  They 
were  all  to  drink  of  that  cup,  so  great  was  their  in- 
dividual responsibility,  and  He  drank  first — at  least, 
I  am  so  persuaded — though  it  meant  for  Him  what 
Gethsemane  revealed. 

The  Water  of  Cleansing. 

Nor  was  there  an  elaborate  order  of  service.  He 
and  He  alone  directed  the  proceedings,  and  no  one 
knew  what  He  meant  to  do  when  He  rose  from  the 
table  and  quietly  disrobed,  girding  Himself  afterwards 
with  a  towel.  It  seemed  as  if  He  wished  to  make  it 
plain  that  when  violent  men  afterwards  robbed  Him  of 
His  garments,  they  took  nothing  from  Him  which  He 
had  not  freely  given  up.     And  when  He  poured  out 


THE  CLOSING  HYMN  267 

the  water,  so  soon  to  be  followed  by  wine,  He  seemed 
to  foreshadow  that  flow  from  the  very  heart,  water 
and  blood — the  human  and  the  Divine — of  which  John 
was  to  bear  witness.  These  also  w'ere  His  free  gifts. 
And  not  a  drop,  even  of  the  water,  was  wasted. 
Within  the  circumference  of  that  basin,  as  of  His 
providence,  His  whole  effort,  as  Man  ministering  to 
man,  was  preserved  for  the  cleansing  of  all  who  will 
submit  themselves  to  Him. 

Their  silence,  as  He  passed  from  one  to  another,  was 
profound.  It  was  as  if  they  dared  not  speak.  With 
one  exception,  His  rebuke  left  them  broken  and  con- 
trite. For  they  had  seen  how  His  own  feet  had  been 
washed  by  Mary  of  Bethany;  and  here  was  He,  un- 
willing to  receive  any  comfort  which  He  did  not  share 
with  them.  They  had  heard  his  rebuke  to  Simon  the 
Pharisee,  when  he  forgot  this  simple  courtesy;  yet,  as 
the  waterpot,  basin,  and  towel  reminded  them,  they 
also  had  been  remiss.  The  exquisite  pain  of  His  re- 
proof— keen  but  inevitable — drove  one  of  the  disciples 
into  vindictive  though  unspoken  hatred,  and  another 
into  vigorous  protest.  "  Thou  shalt  never  wash  my 
feet,"  cried  Peter,  in  utter  anguish.  His  quiet  reply 
meant  that  they  who  will  not  receive  His  lessons  can 
have  no  part  in  Him.  **  Not  my  feet,  but  my  whole 
body,"  begged  Peter.  But  again  He  would  not  be 
persuaded.  Cleansing  must  be  according  to  His  will, 
not  according  to  our  ideas  or  emotions.  Peter's  knowl- 
edge was  imperfect;  in  courage  he  was  to  fail;  but  he 
was  not  all  bad,  and  the  Saviour  from  sin  never  ex- 
aggerated human  depravity.  He  did  not  heal  a  leper 
as  if  the  man  also  suffered  from  fever  and  paralysis. 
Conversion  is  a  real  change  that  does  not  need  to  be 
repeated.     If  Peter's  feet  were  washed,  he  would  be 


268  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

clean  every  whit.  Confronted  by  His  humiliation  and 
the  cause  of  it,  the  Apostles  never  again  renewed  their 
rivalries.  Among  those  first  bishops,  there  was  no 
Pope. 

The  Eleven. 

For  as  He  talked  with  them  far  into  the  evening — 
while  the  Iscariot  was  busy  with  his  preparations — the 
burden  on  His  heart  was  just  those  eleven  remaining 
men.  He  knew  that,  in  a  few  hours,  all  of  them  would 
be  offended  in  Him,  He  was  so  conscious  of  devilry 
triumphant  in  the  hour  of  darkness — only  an  hour, 
mind  you — that  He  spoke  of  Peter  being  sifted  like 
wheat,  and  prayed  God  to  sustain  him.  Torn  to  the 
heart  as  He  was  with  the  unspeakable  malice  of 
Judas,  we  see  Him  wrestling  with  an  awful  mistrust, 
not  of  God,  but  of  men,  whose  nature  He  had  taken. 
Here,  in  this  seething  ocean  of  godlessness,  were  these 
few  frail  survivors  of  His  cause;  with  passionate 
intensity  He  pleaded  with  His  Father  to  keep  them — 
not  to  lose  one  of  them,  not  one!  He  spoke  to  them, 
as  the  evening  wore  on,  of  His  love,  of  their  union  with 
Him,  of  a  future  to  be  spent  with  Himself.  He  could 
not  have  said  more  than  He  did;  yearning  for  comfort 
and  needing  it.  He  comforted  others. 

At  last  they  rose  to  their  feet,  and  together  they 
sang  what  was,  in  fact.  His  funeral  hymn.  His  voice 
blended  with  theirs  as  He  blessed  the  music  that  would 
be  never-ending  in  the  Home  which  He  went  forth  to 
prepare.  Verse  by  verse  they  sang,  and  this  also  came 
to  an  end.  There  lay  the  table — littered  with  the 
remnants  of  that  long  evening's  feast.  There  stood  the 
basin,  pitcher,  and  towel  beside  them. 

He  added  something  about  being  delivered  into  the 


THE  CLOSING  HYMN  269 

hands  of  men.  They  knew  that  He  was  in  deadly 
danger.  Into  the  midnight  they  plunged,  leaving  be- 
hind them  the  city;  they  made  for  Bethany,  as  usual; 
but  at  a  garden  He  stopped.  His  was  to  be  no  flight 
from  peril.  Nor  would  He  bring  the  home  of  Lazarus, 
and  Lazarus  himself,  into  that  dreadful  drama  which 
began  with  a  kiss.  He  awaited  His  enemies  where 
He  alone  would  feel  their  blows.  His  only  refuge 
was  Gethsemane. 


XXXVII 

BETRAYED— ARRESTED— DENIED 

Spirit  willing:  Flesh  weak — "Whom  seek  ye?" — "It  was  Ex- 
pedient that  One  die  " — Peter's  Denial. 

WHEN  we  wait  in  suspense,  fearing  every  moment 
that  death  may  claim  his  own,  then  perhaps 
we  understand  something  of  the  agony  which,  in 
Gethsemane,  drew  great  drops,  as  of  blood,  from  our 
Saviour's  face.  But  in  measure  only,  for  He  was 
bearing  griefs  not  His  own,  and  carrying  the  sorrows 
of  mankind.  He  who  had  shed  tears,  and  would  soon 
shed  His  blood,  so  completely  shared  our  nature  that 
from  His  brow,  as  from  ours,  anguish  wrung  forth  the 
moisture — what  the  Bible  with  utter  candor  calls  the 
szveat — of  intense  pain.  In  the  mountains  that  encircle 
Jerusalem,  He  might  have  found  safety,  but  the  garden 
had  been  His  place  for  prayer — John  tells  us  that — 
and  with  Him  prayer  was  no  casual  impulse,  but  an 
appointment  not  to  be  set  aside  under  any  pressure 
of  circumstances.  Gethsemane  was  His  Eden — the 
Paradise  on  earth  which,  as  a  Son  of  Adam,  He  must 
reconquer  for  His  brethren;  and  if  He  had  surren- 
dered the  Garden,  returning  to  the  desert,  all  good  gifts 
that  grow  by  knowledge  of  God  would  have  been  lost 

270 


BETRAYED— ARRESTED— DENIED      271 

to  us  for  ever.    Judas,  who  betrayed  Him,  knew  abso- 
lutely where  He  would  be  found. 

His  disciples  were  now  only  eleven  in  number. 
Three  of  them  had  seen  Him  raise  the  dead  and  talk 
with  the  departed.  Of  these,  James  and  John  wished 
to  share  His  throne,  and  were  ready,  so  they  declared, 
to  drink  of  His  cup,  Peter,  on  his  side,  had  promised 
vehemently  that  he  would  die  with  Him.  These  three 
men  were,  like  Him,  severely  stricken  with  sorrow. 
But  while  sorrow  with  Him  was  unto  death — since  it 
was  for  sin — theirs,  which  was  for  pain  and  suffering, 
ended  easily  in  sleep.  He  only  asked  them  to  watch 
with  Him  one  hour.  As  we  have  seen,  it  was  His 
fixed  belief  that,  while  the  Kingdom  of  God  is  ever- 
lasting, the  reign  of  evil  must — compared  with  eternity 
— quickly  pass  away.  But,  despite  His  appeals,  thus 
limited  in  time,  they  failed  as  sentinels.  Even  of  His 
personal  safety  they  were  careless;  for  without  warn- 
ing from  them  His  enemies  surrounded  Him.  Having 
so  lately  received  His  sacrament  of  remembrance, 
they  thus  forgot  Him;  and  as  He  trod  the  winepress 
alone,  it  was  not  they,  but  an  angel,  that  strengthened 
Him. 

Spirit  willing:  Flesh  weak. 

In  the  wilderness  He  had  fought  three  times  a  soli- 
tary fight,  and  had  no  friends  near  Him.  Here  also 
was  a  conflict,  thrice  renewed,  only  it  was  more  desper- 
ate; the  prize  was  no  longer  a  career,  but  life  itself; 
and,  as  if  He  invited  reinforcements.  He  thrice  asked 
the  Apostles  to  pray  with  Him.  But  we  should  notice 
that  He  withdrew  from  them  a  stone's-throw.  Prayer 
to  our  Father  is  certainly  fellowship — that  is  true — but 
it  is  also  personal.    We  must  enter  our  room,  shut  the 


272  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

door,  and  face  our  special,  individual  responsibility. 
He  had  taught  the  disciples,  like  children,  to  use  in 
prayer  His  words.  But,  in  doing  this,  He  warned 
them  against  vain  repetitions,  and  He  now  wished  that 
they  should  frame  their  own  devotions.  The  Spirit, 
said  He,  was  willing  to  help  them,  but  the  flesh  was 
weak — not,  be  it  noted,  wicked,  in  this  case,  or  unclean; 
but  unreliable,  shrinking,  yielding — in  a  word,  weak. 
A  thorn  could  tear  it;  a  scourge  could  wound  it;  a 
nail  could  pierce  it;  a  spear  could  cleave  it.  And 
prayer  requires  courage,  perseverance,  concentration. 
For  Him  to  win,  as  God,  without  the  burden  of  our 
nature,  would  have  been  simple.  The  value  of  His 
victory  to  us  is  that  He  won  it  as  Man;  and  the 
failure  of  His  chief  Apostles  shows  that  only  God  in 
Man  could  have  won  it.  Indeed,  even  this  victory, 
in  His  own  human  Person,  did  not  content  Him. 
Peter,  having  thrice  failed  in  watchfulness,  failed 
thrice  in  witness — it  was  cause  and  effect,  scientifically 
inexorable;  yet  it  was  through  Peter,  and  men  like 
him,  that  our  Saviour  has  triumphed  in  history.  This 
is  the  miracle — His  use  of  others — which  challenges 
explanation. 

As  He  prayed,  slowly  but  surely  the  tide  of  battle 
turned.  The  Satanic  idea  that  the  cup  might  pass 
from  Him  was  surrendered,  but  with  infinite  sacrifice. 
He  bowed  His  head  to  the  ground — He  could  go  no 
lower — as  He  accepted  the  Father's  will,  making  it  His 
own.  And  when  a  few  minutes  later  Peter  would  have 
rescued  Him  by  force,  so  complete  was  His  mastery  in 
Himself  that  He  asked,  without  a  trace  of  agitation — 
indeed,  as  if  in  surprise :  "  The  cup  that  My  Father 
hath  given  Me,  shall  I  not  drink  it  ?  "  John,  who  tells 
us  this,  is  silent  about  the  previous  wrestlings.     He 


BETRAYED— ARRESTED— DENIED   273 

describes  the  conquest,  but  leaves  the  campaign  to  be 
inferred. 

Gethsemane  profoundly  influenced  the  Apostles. 
Peter  never  wearied  of  writing  about  our  Saviour's 
sufferings  as  a  trial  or  test  of  faith;  and  Mark  gives  us 
one  touch  of  exquisite  intimacy  when  he  says  that 
Jesus  addressed  His  Father  as  "  Abba  " — the  Aramaic 
word — as  when  He  said  "  Talitha  Cumi "  or 
"  Ephphatha."  In  His  weakness  as  in  His  power  He 
fell  back,  not  on  the  language  of  scholars  and  poets, 
but  on  His  mother-tongue — the  common  speech  of 
ordinary  men  and  women.  Mark  seems  to  have  had  it 
from  Peter,  an  eye-witness,  and  he  handed  it  on  to 
Paul;  so  that  in  the  great  chapter,  the  eighth  of  Ro- 
mans, we  are  told  that  if  we  are  led  by  the  Spirit — the 
willing  Spirit — the  Spirit  of  adoption — we  also  may 
cry,  "  Abba,  Father,"  as  He  did.  And  we  detect,  too, 
His  Divine  irony  when  He  said :  "  Watch  and  pray, 
lest  ye  enter  into  temptation,"  It  was  as  if  He  argued : 
"  If  /  need  to  watch  and  pray,  and  invite  you  to  watch 
and  pray  with  Me,  do  you  think  that  you  can  neglect 
such  precautions?  " 

"Whom  seek  ye?" 

A  great  multitude  came  to  take  Him.  It  was  the 
majority,  determined  to  rule;  the  big  battalions,  with 
swords  and  staves,  confident  that  God  must  be  on 
their  side.  The  Wise  Men  were  guided  by  a  star, 
beyond  themselves,  poised  in  its  orbit  by  God;  but 
these  violent  and  foolish  men  bore  with  them  their  own 
illumination — the  smoking  torch  of  revolution,  the 
more  sheltered  flame  of  the  lantern,  which  suggests 
law,  civilization,  order — and  they  thought  that  with 
such  flickering  beams  they  could  illuminate  the  Light 


274  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

of  the  World.  Deeming  Him  Man,  they  called  for 
"Jesus  of  Nazareth  ";  but  on  seeing  Him  they  fell  to 
the  earth — not  forward,  in  reverence,  but  backward, 
in  that  terror  which  Paul  says  is  not  the  Spirit  of 
adoption.  He  was  thus  self-identified;  and  while 
John  mentions  Judas,  he  says  nothing  of  the  kiss — 
prearranged  as  the  signal  for  our  Lord's  arrest.  Here, 
at  the  very  crisis  of  His  fate,  Jesus  would  have  fore- 
stalled the  Iscariot's  crime.  Arrest — yes;  but  at  least 
let  the  treachery  be  omitted. 

Some  act  of  supreme  irreverence  was  wanted  to 
break  His  spell.  The  crowd,  though  misled,  hesitated. 
Their  motives  were  not  evil  enough,  without  stimulus, 
for  what  they  had  to  do.  Incarnate  God  could  only 
be  betrayed  by  Incarnate  Devil.  Judas — determined 
to  persist — walked  up  boldly  to  Jesus,  and  with  the 
words,  "  Hail,  Master,"  kissed  Him  on  the  cheek. 
Twelve  legions  of  angels  witnessed  the  act,  but  kept 
silence.  The  hosts  of  heaven  were  content  that  Jesus 
should  speak.  Twice  He  offered  to  save  Judas,  for 
twice  He  put  to  Him  a  question  that  invited  contrition. 
"Friend,"  He  asked,  "wherefore  art  thou  come?" 
And  again :  "  Judas,  betrayest  thou  the  Son  of  Man 
with  a  kiss  ?  "  One  look  was  to  be  enough  to  arouse 
Peter  to  repentant  weeping.  But  Judas  hugged  the 
hatred  which  the  reverent  devotion  of  Mary  had 
fomented.  And  hatred,  from  that  hour,  vanquished 
whatever  of  love  there  had  been  in  the  traitor's  heart. 

Yet  about  those  questions  there  was  a  wonderful 
brotherliness,  a  tender  humility.  Our  Lord  greeted 
the  Iscariot  not  as  a  Master  addressing  His  disciple, 
but  as  a  Friend  speaking  to  friend — not  as  God  rebuk- 
ing man,  but  so  speaking — in  our  phrase — as  "  Man  to 
man."     How  slow  was  the  Redeemer  to  admit  evil, 


BETRAYED— ARRESTED— DENIEO     275 

and  how  ready  to  welcome  confession !  He  desired  no 
more  from  Judas  than  the  loyalty  which  every  one  of 
us  owes  to  his  neighbor.  It  is  true  that  the  sin  of 
Judas  was  predestined — indeed,  prophesied;  but  our 
Lord,  by  His  infinite  patience,  made  it  abundantly 
plain  that  Judas  alone  was  responsible.  For  the 
mystery  of  evil,  which  ever  perplexes  us,  lies  just  here 
— that  there  is  in  wickedness  a  destiny  which  appears 
to  be  inevitable,  yet  goes  against  the  revealed  will  of 
an  all-powerful  and  all-righteous  God,  and  conflicts 
with  the  uttermost  endeavors  of  the  Lord  Christ. 

Jesus  asked  that  they  should  let  His  disciples  go, 
and  it  was  an  easy  boon  to  grant,  for  He  alone  mat- 
tered. His  friends  had  with  them  but  two  swords,  one 
of  which  was  used  by  Peter  when  he  struck  off  the  ear 
of  Malchus.  By  the  laws  of  war,  Malchus  deserved  it. 
But  our  Lord's  last  act  before  they  bound  Him  was  to 
institute  the  Red  Cross  for  foe  as  well  as  friend,  and 
He  told  Peter  to  put  his  sword  back  into  its  sheath. 
Then,  as  now,  many  soldiers  worshiped  Him.  But  He 
made  it  clear  that  their  power,  great  though  it  be  and 
responsibly  exercised,  is  different  from  and  less  than 
His.  I  sometimes  wonder  whether  Peter's  sword  will 
ever  remain  quietly  in  its  sheath  until  He  is  King  of 
kings  and  Lord  of  lords. 

They  all  forsook  Him  and  fled.  So  great  was  the 
panic  that  one  nameless  young  man,  who  happened 
to  be  there  in  his  night  array,  when  he  was  seized, 
left  his  garment  in  the  soldiers'  hands,  and  fled  naked. 
Who  he  was  we  shall  never  know — Mark  tells  us  of 
him;  some  conjecture  that  he  was  Mark  himself.  To 
us,  he  is  the  eternal  type  of  those  who,  when  there  is  a 
noise  about  religion,  are  attracted  to  Christ  by  mere 
curiosity,  but  when  they  see  Him,  realize  nothing  of 


276  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

His  sufferings,  and  hurry  away  again,  worse  than  be- 
fore, by  the  loss  of  their  self-respect. 

"  It  was  Expedient  that  One  die." 

Peter  followed  the  Lord  afar  off.  And  so  did  the 
other  disciple,  John,  whom  Jesus  loved.  John  was  a 
friend  of  the  high  priest,  and  he  it  is  who  tells  us  how 
Caiaphas  prophesied  that  a  man — some  man — must 
die  for  the  people,  that  bulls  and  goats  were  no  longer 
a  sufficient  sacrifice.  When  Jesus  was  taken  to  the 
palace  of  the  priests,  John  entered  himself,  and  ap- 
parently remained  through  the  trials;  also,  he  secured 
admittance  for  Peter.  The  night  was  cold  as  well  as 
dark.  The  garrison  kindled  a  fire,  and  Peter  sat  by 
it,  saying  no  word  to  mitigate  the  rough  humors  of 
those  hardened  soldiers.  He  was  recognized  as  a  dis- 
ciple, not  by  his  witness  or  by  his  behavior,  but  only 
by  his  face  and  accent.  The  women-servants  were 
particularly  zealous  in  pointing  him  out,  and  the 
friends  of  Malchus — curiously  ungrateful  to  the 
Saviour,  for  miracles  in  themselves  do  not  win  men's 
hearts — were  full  of  their  grievance  against  Peter. 
Thrice  he  denied  the  Saviour.  Afraid  of  their  in- 
quiries, he  made  his  way  uneasily  to  the  door,  but  gave 
one  last  glance  at  the  Prisoner,  standing  bound.  The 
Lord  then  turned  and  looked  upon  Peter,  and  he  for- 
got everything  else. 

Peter's  Denial. 

John  did  not  deny  Jesus,  but  he  never  taunted 
the  first  of  Apostles  with  his  fall.  He  and  Peter  were 
among  the  earliest  to  visit  the  empty  tomb,  and,  in 
later  times  we  read  of  them  entering  the  Temple 
together.     Paul  had  his  controversies  with  Peter,  but 


BETRAYED— ARRESTED— DENIED   277 

he  never  mentioned  the  denial.  On  the  contrary,  he 
spoke  always  as  chief  of  sinners.  The  forgiving  of 
Peter  by  Jesus  transcended  all.  On  rising  from  the 
dead,  the  Master  sent  him  a  special  summons  to  meet 
Him.  And  when  they  met  by  the  lake,  He,  with 
exquisite  reminder,  kindled  for  Peter  a  fire  of  coals. 
Asking  not  to  walk  on  the  water  dry-shod — as  he  had 
once  asked — Peter  plunged  into  the  sea,  and  so  found 
his  way  back  to  the  Saviour,  returning  thus  to  his  first 
love;  for  it  was  through  water  that  he  came  to  Christ 
in  earlier  days. 

He  who  had  fallen  asleep  three  times,  and  three 
times  failed,  was  now  asked  three  times  if  really 
He  loved  the  Redeemer.  He  was  grieved — he  had  to 
endure  grief;  but,  humble  and  penitent,  he  replied: 
"  Thou  knowest."  In  the  Garden,  the  Shepherd  was 
taken,  the  sheep  were  scattered.  Peter  was  to  be  a 
good  shepherd,  who  feeds  the  sheep,  even  the  lambs, 
and  is  ready  to  give  his  life  for  them. 


XXXVIII 

HE  IS  TRIED  AND  CONDEMNED 

Arrested — Suborned  Witnesses — The   Accusation  before   Pilate. 

HERE,  then,  at  the  Passover,  were  priests  and 
people,  thus  waiting  for  a  Man  to  die  for 
them.  Their  Scriptures  taught  that  every  sacrifice, 
to  be  effective,  must  be  without  blemish,  since  no 
one,  however  generous,  can  pay  a  debt  for  another, 
even  to  a  human  creditor,  when  he  himself  is  a  bank- 
rupt. If,  then,  this  unknown  Man,  standing  in  the 
palace  of  the  high  priest,  was  to  die  for  the  people. 
He  must  be  innocent,  and  innocence  means  a  being 
perfect  in  love,  as  God  is  perfect,  who  is  Love.  To 
condemn  such  a  Victim  must  be  a  miscarriage  of  jus- 
tice. Their  own  ceremonies  foreshadowed  it.  His 
Divinity  was  proved  by  the  Book  of  Leviticus.  It  was 
true,  as  they  told  Pilate,  that  by  their  law  He  ought 
to  die,  because  He  made  Himself  the  Son  of  God.  It 
was  astoundingly  true. 

When  wrong  is  done,  we  like  to  say  that  the  system 
is  to  blame.  It  salves  our  consciences.  But  not  one 
word  was  uttered  by  Jesus  against  the  laws  of  Rome 
and  Jewry,  under  which  He  was  tried.  On  the 
contrary,  the  law  of  Rome,  fairly  administered, 
would   have   secured   His   acquittal.      No   conviction 

278 


HE  IS  TRIED  AND  CONDEMNED      279 

was  possible  without  evidence  on  which  two  witnesses 
must  agree,  and  the  witnesses  did  not  agree.  While 
the  ecclesiastical  authority  could  prosecute,  only  the 
civil  power  could  inflict  death,  and  the  civil  power 
vainly  tried  to  wash  its  hands  of  the  responsibihty. 
The  very  rules  of  the  feast  told  in  favor  of  the 
prisoner.  If  the  Jews  would  be  defiled  by  entering 
Pilate's  judgment-hall,  there  should  have  been  a 
remand.  But  they  who  met  in  Jerusalem  to  seek 
mercy  for  themselves  refused  mercy  to  Him,  and 
instead  of  delaying  His  fate,  hurried  it  on,  so  twisting 
against  Him  the  customs  which — humanly  speaking 
— might  have  helped  Him.  Even  the  dying  thief, 
who  railed  against  a  cruel  sentence,  was  moved  by 
our  Lord's  patience  to  declare  that  the  cross,  though 
barbarous,  is  no  more  than  a  just  penalty  for  sin, 
which,  indeed,  was  the  reason  why  Christ  endured 
it.  In  Him,  we  thus  learn  that  what  we  need  is 
not  a  better  law,  for  He  vindicated  Law,  but  ?.  better 
heart — not  legislation  by  Parliaments,  but  equity  oi 
righteousness  within  us.  He  was  not  slain  because 
laws  were  bad,  but  because  men  were  wicked.  And 
His  Gospel  is  not  a  reform  of  the  penal  code.  It  is 
salvation. 

Arrested. 

Jesus  was  wrongfully  arrested.  The  proper  time 
to  seize  an  offender  is  when  the  offense  is  committed, 
or  as  soon  afterwards  as  possible;  and  an  offense 
which  the  State  permits  without  protest  is  thereby 
condoned,  nor  should  it  be  revived.  He  taught  daily 
in  the  Temple,  but  they  did  not  take  Him.  They  had 
no  right  to  seize  Him  in  the  Garden,  For  their  sakes, 
lest  they  sin, — not  for  His  own, — He  told  them  so. 


280  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

When  the  soldiers  came  toward  Him,  He  gave 
Himself  up  willingly;  and  it  was  wrong,  therefore, 
to  bind  His  arms,  as  if  He  were  a  thief,  like  Judas, 
who,  if  caught,  might  escape  from-  justice.  That 
introduced  prejudice  into  the  case,  and  suggested  that 
He  must  be  guilty  merely  because  He  was  in  custody. 
Annas  and  Caiaphas  sat  as  magistrates  in  a  court  of 
first  instance,  and  it  was  their  duty  to  protect  His 
Person  and  His  reputation  until  a  plain  indictment 
was  submitted  by  the  prosecution.  Instead  of  doing 
this,  Caiaphas  questioned,  not  His  accusers,  who 
alone  had,  at  that  stage,  to  make  out  a  case,  but  the 
Prisoner,  not  yet  accused;  and  this  examination  was 
renewed  before  the  Sanhedrin.  Pilate  threatened 
Him  with  torture,  and  did  actually  scourge  Him,  while 
Herod  encouraged  men  to  maltreat  Him.  During 
this  ordeal,  lasting  many  hours,  Jesus  was  denied 
food  and  drink  and  sleep,  and  endured  all  and  more 
than  all  that  horrifies  us  in  the  rack  and  the  thumb- 
screw. Yet  His  teaching,  if  obeyed,  would  have 
prevented  these  cruelties.  We  who  are  sinners,  and 
need  forgiveness,  have  no  right  to  punish  sin,  as  such, 
in  others.  It  is  only  when  sin  becomes  crime — that 
is,  an  offense  against  society,  or  "  Caesar,"  or  one's 
"  neighbor " — that  we  dare  to  judge  it.  Unless 
somebody  else  is  injured,  there  can  be  no  crime;  and 
to  prove  a  crime,  there  must  be  evidence  other  than 
the  prisoner's  own.  No  one  suggested  that  Jesus 
and  His  disciples  had  injured  anyone.  Eager  as 
His  accusers  were  to  make  out  a  case,  it  is  to  be  noted 
that  they  did  not  mention  the  loss  of  the  Gadarene 
swine,  the  withered  fig-tree,  and  the  overturned 
tables  of  the  money-changers,  which  were  undoubtedly 
attacks  on  property.     What  they   resented   was   His 


HE  IS  TRIED  AND  CONDEMNED      281 

more  exacting  claim  on  themselves — what  He  said 
and  what  He  was,  not  what  He  did;  His  words, 
not  His  deeds.  Thus  unconsciously  they  subjected 
Him  to  the  standard  which  He  Himself  set  up  when 
He  said  that  in  the  day  of  judgment  men  must  account 
for  every  jot  and  tittle  that  passes  their  lips. 

First,  Caiaphas  wanted  to  know  about  His  disciples, 
which  was  suggesting  that  He  should  turn  king's 
evidence,  as  Judas  did.  Two  disciples,  Peter  and 
John,  were  there,  and  we  may  imagine  what  they 
felt  when  they  listened.  Neither  of  them  confessed 
Him  before  men,  and  this  meant  that  He  did  not 
confess  them.  He  mentioned  no  name  of  a  disciple, 
for  the  time  had  not  come  when  they  would  be  proud 
to  suffer  with  Him,  Yet  He  made  an  appeal.  For 
when  the  high  priest  went  on  to  inquire  about  His 
doctrine,  He  told  him  to  ask  the  men  who  had 
heard  Him.  *'  They  knew  it,"  He  said.  Peter  and 
John  were  the  very  witnesses  needed,  and  their 
testimony  would  have  agreed;  but  they  remained 
silent.  It  was  the  Spirit  that  came  to  them  later 
which  made  them  bold. 

Suborned  Witnesses. 

In  His  reply  to  the  accusations  of  the  chief  priests, 
there  was  no  disrespect.  He  was  right  in  saying  that 
evidence  should  be  called,  and  they  knew  it,  for  they 
sent  detectives  to  gather  the  evidence.  For  months, 
agents  provocateurs  had  tried  to  entangle  Him  in  His 
talk,  which  again  was  wicked,  because  every  criminal 
investigator  should  seek  to  prove  innocence,  if  inno- 
cence be  possible,  rather  than  to  suggest  guilt.  The 
detectives  suborned  witnesses,  and  the  witnesses 
thus  suborned  shared  the  sin  by  saying  many  things, 


282  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

indeed  anything,  that  would  help  a  zealous  prosecu- 
tion. The  "  Crown,"  as  we  call  it,  was  rich;  He  was 
poor;  but  He  was  offered  no  legal  assistance,  nor  dur- 
ing the  investigation  was  He  released  on  bail  or 
surety,  or  permitted  to  consult  His  friends.  He  had 
no  defense;  He  needed  none,  for,  undefended,  history 
has  reverently  acquitted  Him. 

The  warders  also  sinned  against  Him.  Though  He 
had  committed  no  contempt  of  court,  one  of  them 
struck  Him  on  the  mouth  a  blow  that  was  the  first  of 
many.  Others  blindfolded  His  eyes,  and  called  on 
Him  as  Prophet  to  name  the  men  who  buffeted  Him. 
He  who  had  loosed  men's  tongues,  opened  their  eyes, 
and  restored  their  limbs,  stood  there  dumb,  blind, 
bound.  And  there  rang  out  that  laughter  in  court 
at  His  expense  which  is  ever  the  most  callous,  the 
most  cowardly  merriment — such  a  spectacle  was  He 
whose  voice  now  blesses  us,  whose  eye  now  guides  us, 
whose  arm  is  not  shortened  that  it  cannot  save.  He 
did  not  curse  them;  He  looked  not  upon  their  iniquity; 
He  did  not  smite  them;  and  the  oblivion  which  en- 
folds them  is  the  measure  of  His  forgiveness. 

The  Sanhedrin  assembled.  It  was  the  special  or 
selected  jury.  In  the  street,  the  common  jury  was 
gathering.  Both  juries  gave  a  verdict;  equally  un- 
righteous, since  it  condemned  Christ  without  specify- 
ing the  offense.  Then,  as  often  since,  the  course  of 
justice  was  deflected  by  public  opinion.  The  very 
domestic  servants  made  Peter  tremble.  And  Pilate's 
wife,  who  slept  uneasily  amid  the  growing  tumult  of 
those  early  morning  hours,  terrified  the  governor 
with  her  dreams.  The  trial  involved  all  classes  and 
both  sexes.  One  nation  instituted  it ;  every  nation 
helped  to  conduct  it.     And  it  tests  every  age — Truth 


HE  IS  TRIED  AND  CONDEMNED      283 

for  ever  on   the  scaffold;   Wrong  for  ever  on  the 
throne. 

The  Accusation  before  Pilate. 

The  indictment,  when  framed  at  last,  was  frequently 
varied.  Charged  first  with  disrespect  to  the  Temple, 
He  was  found  guilty  of  blasphemy  against  God.  But 
the  accusation  before  Pilate  was  a  refusal  to  pay 
tribute  to  Caesar,  and  Pilate  sentenced  Him  for  claim- 
ing to  be  a  King.  Such  proceedings  were  contrary  to 
every  canon  of  criminal  jurisprudence,  and  all  the 
diverse  charges  separately  broke  down. 

So  far  from  insulting  the  Temple,  He  twice  cleansed 
it;  and,  in  saying  that  He  would  rebuild  it  in  three 
days,  He  referred  to  His  body,  the  Living  Temple, 
which  was  to  die  and  rise  again.  It  was  no  crime  to 
declare  that  man,  filled  with  God's  Spirit,  is  greater 
than  what  he  achieves. 

The  second  charge  was  forced  on  Him  by  adjura- 
tion to  God.  Commanded  to  say  if  He  was  Messiah 
— the  Son  of  Jehovah — He  answered  simply:  Yes, 
and  they  would  see  Him  return  in  power  and  glory. 
Assuming  it  false,  they  should  have  pitied  the  delusion. 
But  the  point  is  that  they  dared  not  so  declare  it. 
They  did  not  in  fact  deny  His  Deity,  they  only  hated 
Him  the  more  for  asserting  it;  and  Caiaphas  broke  the 
law  of  his  order — as  laid  down  in  the  writings  of 
Moses — by  rending  his  clothes,  as  the  veil  of  the 
Temple  was  to  be  rent,  so  in  symbol  abdicating  his 
office,  in  presence  of  Him  who  is  our  great  High  Priest, 
eternal  in  the  heavens. 

As  for  tribute  to  Caesar,  what  He  said  was  the 
opposite  of  what  they,  who  themselves  revolted  against 
the  tribute,  now  alleged.     He  paid  taxes,  and  told 


284  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

others  to  pay  them;  while  His  claim  to  be  King, 
though  calmly  admitted,  satisfied  even  Pilate,  who 
found  no  fault  in  One  who  only  desired  to  rule  the 
hearts  and  allay  the  passions  of  men  by  leading  them 
into  His  realm  of  Truth — the  frontiers  of  which  Pilate 
regarded  with  doubt  and  cynicism.  "  To  this  end," 
said  He,  "  I  was  born,"  and  a  birthright — be  it  royal 
or  be  it  Divine — cannot  be  criminal,  however  often  it 
is  so  treated. 

Finally,  it  was  illegal  to  inflict  Roman  crucifixion 
on  Him,  when  His  offense,  as  alleged,  was  Jewish,  and 
therefore  punishable  only  by  stoning.  Pilate  knew 
this,  and  called  on  them  to  deal  with  Him  by  their 
law;  but  they  refused  to  carry  out  the  sentence  for 
which  they  clamored.  And  in  seeking  to  apply  the 
last  prerogative  of  mercy,  Pilate  himself  gravely  erred. 
The  fate  of  one  prisoner  should  not  have  been  made 
dependent  on  the  fate  of  another — that  was  contrary 
to  law;  and  if  the  Prisoner  was  not  guilty,  as  Pilate 
believed.  His  sentence  of  death  should  have  been  can- 
celed outright,  and  not  reduced  to  scourging.  To 
compromise  between  guilt  and  innocence  only  lacer- 
ates the  victim  of  injustice.  Strict  righteousness,  hard 
though  it  be,  is  ever  the  truest  mercy. 

So  that  it  came  to  this — without  indictment,  He 
was  arrested.  Without  evidence,  He  was  accused. 
Without  verdict,  guilty  or  not  guilty.  He  was  con- 
demned. He  was  scourged  because  He  was  too  good 
to  be  slain,  yet  afterwards  He  was  slain.  No  one  who 
demanded  His  death  or  saw  Him  die  could  say  what 
evil  He  had  done.  And  behind  that  contradiction  of 
sinners  lay  a  profounder  meaning.  That  meaning 
was  our  redemption. 


XXXIX 

HE  IS  CRUCIFIED 

Before  Herod  and  Pilate — Son  of  Abbas,  Son  of  God — Life  out 
of  Death. 

THE  palace  of  Herod  at  Jerusalem  has  vanished, 
and  only  lives  in  history  because,  during  the 
Saviour's  trial,  it  was  visited  once,  for  a  few  minutes, 
by  the  Lord  of  lords.  It  was  the  first  and  last  time 
that  He  who  preached  the  Gospel  to  the  poor  attended 
an  earthly  court;  and  though  He  was  summoned  as 
a  Prisoner,  it  was  He,  and  not  Herod,  who  by  silence 
granted  "  an  audience "  to  the  other.  Here  were 
Sovereigns,  both  of  whom  had  reigned  in  Galilee;  but 
how  great  the  contrast — for  He  was  the  true  King, 
who  went  about  doing  good;  and  it  was  because 
he  followed  "  pomp  and  circumstance  "  that  Herod 
missed  the  greater  miracles  of  the  Omnipotent.  For 
so  it  has  ever  been.  The  powerful  are  too  busy  to 
take  note  of  that  Gospel  which  alone  saves  men.  In- 
deed, the  very  gladness  of  this  prince  was  blasphemy, 
for  redemption  is  not  offered  to  us  as  an  amusement 
for  the  curious.  A  year  or  two  earlier,  the  Baptist 
had  said  many  things  to  Herod,  and  because  these 
warnings  were  unheeded,  therefore  not  one  word  was 
added  unto  them  by  the  Lord  Jesus.    In  an  entourage 

286 


286  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

which  rejected  the  Servant,  there  was  no  room  for  the 
Master's  wisdom.  And  the  only  miracle  that  He 
granted  was  the  sight  of  the  Redeemer  speechless  in  the 
dock,  while  a  murderer  sat  talking  on  the  throne.  That, 
indeed,  has  aroused  the  reverent  wonder  of  the  ages. 

Before  Herod  and  Pilate. 

Undesigned  by  man  but  predestined  by  God, 
Herod's  very  mockery  was  fraught  with  a  meaning. 
Frivolously  stepping  from  that  throne,  with  its  solemn 
responsibilities,  he  plunged  into  ribaldry,  which  act 
was  in  itself  an  abdication  of  his  royal  office,  as  what 
followed  with  the  virtual  accession  of  the  Redeemer. 
With  his  guilty  hands,  Herod  arrayed  the  King  of 
Love  in  royal  purple,  that  color  which  blends  the  blue 
of  the  sky,  for  Divinity,  with  red,  as  of  blood,  for 
humanity,  and  so  shows  forth  His  incarnate  majesty. 
Thus  robed,  Herod  sent  Him  back  to  Pilate,  whose 
soldiers  platted  a  crown,  not  of  gold,  as  of  wealth,  nor 
of  iron,  as  of  force,  but  of  thorns — the  common  thorn 
that  torments  all  mankind — and  they  set  it  on  His 
brow.  There  shone  forth  the  glory  of  suffering  as 
He  bore  it,  and  as  we  may  bear  it  if  we  suffer  with 
Him.  They  struck  Him  with  a  reed,  as  authority 
strikes  Him  to-day,  yet  they  also  put  the  reed  in  His 
hand.  He  did  not  seize  it;  He  did  not  refuse  it;  and 
thus  they  foretold  the  end  of  things  when  all  power 
will  return  to  Him.  They  bowed  the  knee,  as  every 
knee  will  yet  bow,  and  cried,  as  every  voice  will  yet 
cry,  "  Hail,  King  of  the  Jews."  Thus  He  was 
crowned,  robed,  sceptered — the  Divine  right  of  king- 
ship conferred  irrevocably  on  Him  alone.  Was  ever 
ceremony,  unrehearsed,  so  full  of  significance? 

Pilate  continued  the  pageant.     Here  was  a  man 


HE  IS  CRUCIFIED  38*7 

who  had  seen  Emperors  in  their  glory,  but  no  Em- 
peror inspired  within  him  the  dread  with  which  he 
regarded  the  unarmed  and  unresisting  Son  of  God. 
On  that  devil's  day,  Jesus  surrendered  all  command, 
except  over  Himself;  but  His  rule  over  the  Kingdom 
of  God  within  Him  was  so  absolute  that,  even  as 
bound,  He  was  proved  Almighty.  The  Proconsul  of 
Rome  could  only  stand  aside,  like  the  Forerunner,  and 
exclaim,  "  Behold  the  Man !  "  Crown  and  robe  and 
scepter  faded  away  in  the  nobler  splendor  of  His 
personal  kingliness. 

Pilate  only  thought  of  saving  the  body  of  Jesus 
from  death;  Jesus  would  have  rescued  Pilate's  soul. 
Lest  there  should  be  any  mistake  as  to  words,  the 
Master  explained  precisely  what  was  meant  by  His 
Kingdom — what  the  Jews  knew  that  He  meant; 
and  Pilate,  the  man  of  force,  was  offered  the  Truth. 
Amid  the  turmoil,  Jesus  spoke  as  calmly  as  He  did 
in  the  quiet  of  the  night  to  Nicodemus.  He  betrayed 
no  trace  of  excitement;  and  if,  in  humility,  Pilate 
had  asked,  "  What  is  truth  ?  "  he  would  have  seen  in 
Jesus  the  living  Truth,  and  Rome  would  have  wor- 
shiped. But  the  Governor  had  no  allegiance  to  ren- 
der to  the  Man  whom,  as  he  twice  declared,  he  found 
faultless.  In  Pilate  is  revealed  the  deadly  sin  of 
cynicism,  which  recognizes  good,  and  knows  it  to  be 
good,  but  despises  it.  When  next  he  appealed  to  the 
people,  Pilate  said  not,  "  Behold  our  King,"  but 
"  Behold  your  King,"  which  meant  that  he  deliberately 
refused  his  own  allegiance,  as  many  a  statesman  does 
to-day,  holding  that  the  Christ  is  a  suitable  Friend 
for  the  poor  and  ignorant,  but  that  great  ones  on  the 
earth  can  afford  to  look  down  on  Him.  Hence  the 
only  epitaph  that  Pilate  would  write  was :  "  Jesus  of 


S88  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

Nazareth — the  King  of  the  Jews,"  not  of  Romans, 
not  of  Greeks.  By  using  the  Latin  and  Greek  lan- 
guages as  well  as  Hebrew,  Pilate  admitted  the  wider 
claim,  only  he  would  not  bow  to  it.  The  Jews  were 
logical  in  protesting  that  Pilate  should  say  less  or 
more.  Either  Jesus  was  an  impostor  or  He  was  uni- 
versal King,  and  of  these  alternatives  they  insisted  on 
the  first.  Pilate  did  not  change  a  syllable.  What  he 
wrote  remained  Rome's  final  judgment,  and  with  it 
Rome  fell.  It  had  to  be  so.  No  Empire  can  assert 
a  spiritual  claim  and  then  insult  it  without  sowing 
the  seeds  of  decay. 

Any  man  who  sneers  at  Truth  must  fail  in  Justice. 
Acquittal  was  our  Redeemer's  right.  Pilate  acknowl- 
edged it;  but  instead  of  granting  it  as  a  matter  of 
course,  he  hesitated,  spoke  of  it  as  a  favor,  and 
appealed  to  the  pity  of  the  mob,  as  if  at  any  time  there 
can  be  pity  without  righteousness.  Terrible  as  was 
the  scourging  which  Pilate  inflicted,  the  crowds  did 
not  relent;  and  we  see  in  them  what  reserves  of 
cruelty  lie  hidden  within  man — how  futile  would  be 
a  Gospel  based  merely  on  sentiment.  Indeed,  after 
centuries  of  experience,  there  are  women,  nay,  men 
also,  who  follow  Him,  not  bravely,  not  in  real  sacri- 
fice, but  weeping,  as  if  that  were  His  will.  "  Weep 
not  for  Me,"  He  said,  "  but  for  yourselves  " ;  and  this 
is  still  His  message.  He  suffered  when  faith  was 
green  and  living.  An  age  comes  when  faith  is  dry  and 
dead.  The  cruelty  of  the  fanatic  is  terrible;  but  far 
more  terrible  is  the  cruelty  of  the  skeptic.  And  when 
that  cold,  calculating  ferocity  bursts  on  the  mothers 
and  their  children,  they  cry  in  vain  for  the  hills  to 
cover  them.  Their  cry  rings  in  our  ears  to-day,  and 
He  heard  it  first. 


HE  IS  CRUCIFIED  289 

Son  of  Abbas,  Son  of  God. 

The  very  fact  that  Pilate  asked  Him  whether  He 
was  the  Son  of  God,  meant,  as  Jesus  answered,  that  he 
"  said  it."  The  Governor,  seeing  Him  as  Man  and  as 
Monarch,  trembled  at  witnessing  also  His  Divinity. 
The  fear  of  the  Lord  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom, 
and  the  dream  of  Pilate's  wife  furthered  that  most 
wholesome  terror.  But  fear  is  not,  in  itself,  enough. 
The  Devil  also  can  invoke  that  weapon;  and  when  he 
was  warned  by  the  multitude  that  he  could  not  release 
Jesus  and  remain  Caesar's  friend,  Pilate  again  hesi- 
tated. He  had  to  decide  between  the  Christ  and  the 
governing  classes,  and  the  exacting  claims  of  public 
life  gripped  his  soul.  For,  as  the  Jews  Instinctively 
realized,  Pilate  could  not  be  just  to  the  Christ  without 
himself  belonging  to  the  Christ.  It  must  be  one  thing 
or  the  other.  Not  that  there  is  any  real  opposition 
of  the  Saviour  and  the  State.  On  the  contrary,  our 
Master  had  declared  that  there  is  no  conflict  between 
the  worship  of  God  and  the  true  service  of  Caesar, 
and  history  has  shown  that  Christ  alone  can  establish 
Caesar's  empire  in  equity  and  peace. 

The  choice  thus  lay  between  Barabbas — son  of 
Abbas — and  Jesus,  Son  of  God.  Barabbas  robbed 
the  people  and  murdered  them;  but  they  preferred 
him,  because  it  is  easier  to  love  what  is  lower  than 
oneself,  than  to  reach  up  to  an  example.  To  let  loose 
the  plunderer  is  a  simpler  affair  than  to  bind  him 
again;  and  since  that  day  of  decision,  Barabbas  has 
ever  been  abroad  in  the  world.  Between  his  getting 
and  Christ's  giving  there  can  be  no  compromise; 
democracy  may  have  the  release  of  Jesus  or  of 
Barabbas,   not  of  both.     It  was  the  populace  that 


290  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

chose.  The  State  merely  ratified  the  choice.  And  the 
nation  received  precisely  what  it  deserved — Mammon, 
instead  of  God. 

Life  out  of  Death. 

The  Jews  pronounced  their  own  doom.  To  this 
day  they  have  had,  as  they  desired,  no  king  but 
Caesar.  To  this  day  His  blood  has  been  on  them  and 
their  children.  To  this  day  the  verdict,  "  Crucify 
Him,"  stands.  Pilate  handed  Him  over  to  the  soldiers, 
and  from  that  terrible  moment  His  blessed  Person  has 
been  broken  for  all  mankind.  They  clad  Him  again 
in  His  own  robe,  which  was  still  seamless  and  unrent, 
as  if  to  remind  us  that  after  the  final  test  of  that 
morning  His  righteousness  was  perfect — His  character 
w^as  whole  and  consistent.  Then  they  led  Him  forth. 
He  was  to  suffer  as  criminals  suffer,  beyond  the  pale  of 
society,  outside  the  city  walls,  like  the  scapegoat 
driven  from  the  camp  into  the  wilderness — unclean, 
disgraced,  ostracized.  He  was  to  die  on  Golgotha, 
the  place  of  a  skull,  that  grinning  negation  to  the  eye 
of  a  future  life,  where  death  glowered  on  Him  with  all 
its  menaces,  defying  His  resolution,  challenging  Him 
to  withdraw  before  it  was  too  late.  This  was  the 
charnel-field  where  He  won  His  victory,  and  what  was 
to  Him  Golgotha  is  to  us  a  place  of  Life,  of  Pardon,  of 
Joy,  of  Power. 

And  He  carried  His  cross.  It  was  a  brother-car- 
penter that  had  made  it.  When  the  weight  bore  Him 
down — it  was  His  only  display  of  physical  exhaustion 
— it  was  not  Simon  Peter  who  came  forward  to  bear 
the  burden,  but  another  Simon,  of  Cyrene,  a  stranger 
coming  in  from  the  country,  who  was  compelled  to 
assist    Him.      That    service   seems   to   have   changed 


HE  IS  CRUCIFIED  291 

Simon's  life.  We  read  that  he  was  father  of  Alex- 
ander and  Rufus — a  man  afterwards  well  known  to 
the  Church.  Great  was  Simon's  privilege,  but  acci- 
dental— Providential.  But  Peter — the  absent  Simon 
— was  not  forgotten.  Not  many  days  passed  before 
he  also  was  promised  that  he  should  not  only  carry  his 
cross,  but  suffer  on  it,  being  crucified  thus  with  Christ. 
And  Peter  was  not  so  compelled.  It  was  love  and 
gratitude  that  alone  constrained  him. 


XL 

HE  DIES 

"By  this    Sign,"  Conquer  —  Christ   and   His   Bible  — "It  is 

Finished." 

THUS  was  His  death-bed  a  cross  of  wood  on  which 
they  laid  Him,  drawing  His  arms  apart,  as  if 
He  embraced  the  whole  wide  world,  and  revealing  His 
very  heart,  which  beats  with  love  for  men.  East  and 
West,  North  and  South,  so  do  His  hands  ever  point, 
appealing  thus  to  all  that  need  Him.  They  nailed 
His  hands  and  His  feet,  holding  Him  for  ever,  as  they 
thought,  in  that  attitude  of  shame.  They  offered 
Him  wine,  mingled  with  myrrh,  but  He  refused  it. 
No  narcotic,  no  anaesthetic,  was  to  cloud  His  intelli- 
gence, or  ease  His  pain.  He  would  satisfy  Justice, 
not  evoke  pity — conquer  Death,  not  compromise  with 
death's  agony.  He  would  drink  no  wine,  except  new 
in  His  Kingdom,  and  not  for  Himself,  but  with  His 
disciples.  All  that  touched  His  parched  lips  was  vine- 
gar— the  sweet  turned  sour — and  this  He  only  drank 
because  it  strengthened  Him  for  final  suffering,  for  a 
worse  affliction  even  than  thirst.  It  was  by  hyssop, 
the  plant  of  Passover,  that  they  raised  the  sponge  to 
His  face,  putting  hyssop  and  sponge  on  that  kind  of 
reed  which  had  been  His  scepter;  which  meant  that 

292 


HE  DIES  298 

without  atonement  for  men's  sins  He  could  never 
reign  over  men's  hearts.  Simple  indeed  was  His 
regalia — that  hyssop  His  only  laurel,  that  sponge  His 
only  chalice. 

In  anguish,  as  they  pierced  Him,  His  voice  breathed 
a  prayer,  not  for  Himself,  but  for  His  torturers — 
that  they,  as  sinners,  might  be  pardoned.  "  Father," 
said  He,  *'  forgive  them;  for  they  know  not  what 
they  do."  It  was  the  first  of  those  sayings  which, 
though  distributed,  as  if  casually,  over  the  Four 
Gospels,  yet,  when  collected,  are  found  to  be  seven; 
the  sacred  and  perfect  number.  In  death,  as  in  life, 
He  was  the  complete  Word  of  God  to  man,  teaching 
forgiveness  to  soldiers,  giving  guidance  to  His  mother, 
suggesting  duty  to  John  the  beloved  disciple,  granting 
absolution  to  the  thief,  acknowledging  God's  stern 
righteousness  by  quoting  the  Crucifixion  Psalm,  con- 
fessing physical  needs  Hke  thirst,  and,  finally,  declaring 
His  unaltered  faith  in  His  Heavenly  Father.  He  who 
prayed  could  answer  the  sinner's  prayer.  He  who 
was  obedient  even  unto  death  could  still  command  a 
disciple.  He  who  was  forsaken  was  able  still  to  trust 
the  Father  who  never  forsakes  us. 

"  By  this  Sign,"  Conquer. 

They  raised  His  cross  until  the  dead  wood  pointed  "* 
heavenwards,  as  it  still  points  heavenwards  in  lands 
unknown  to  Judea.  The  wood  was  dead;  but  as 
He  hung  there  it  blossomed,  like  Aaron's  rod,  into 
all  the  loveliest  virtues  of  love  and  peace  and  purity. 
From  a  symbol  of  disgrace,  like  the  gallows,  the  Cross 
is  to-day  the  sign  by  which  we  conquer.  In  the  hilt 
of  a  sword,  on  the  masts  of  our  ships,  on  the  flags  un- 
der which  we  dwell,  and  the  jewelry  with  which  we  are 


294  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

adorned,  in  our  hymns,  over  our  graves,  and  above  our 
churches,  the  Cross  is  ever  an  honored  memorial. 

As  He  prayed  for  their  forgiveness,  the  day  turned 
to  darkness.  It  was  the  inevitable  response  of  God 
to  His  plea.  For  three  long  hours,  He  whose  eye  sees 
all  looked  not  on  their  offenses;  and  it  meant  that  on 
the  Saviour  also  no  ray  of  light  could  shine.  From 
that  universal  guilt  of  man.  He,  as  Redeemer,  could 
not  be  excluded ;  and  He  alone  could  bear  the  penalty, 
for  He  alone  knew  what  penalty  was  due.  As  He  had 
said,  they  in  their  iniquity  were  ignorant  of  what  harm 
they  did,  since  evil  makes  men  blind  to  evil.  For 
this  reason  they  could  only  be  forgiven  because  He 
suffered.  As  the  people  themselves  said — Saving 
others.  Himself  He  could  not  save.  If  His  garments 
were  of  righteousness,  then  their  removal  from  Him 
and  His  exposure  meant,  in  symbol,  that  sin  was 
imputed  to  Him.  If  He  had  sat  as  Judge,  He  ought  to 
have  smitten  His  persecutors.  He  could  only — to  use 
our  phrase — "  compound  the  felony "  by  Himself 
accepting  the  sentence  which  otherwise  He  must  have 
pronounced. 

No  help  came  to  Him.  John  stood  there,  but  in  this 
situation  he  was  impotent.  All  he  could  do  was  to 
obey  the  Redeemer,  and  lead  the  weeping  mother  to 
his  home.  He  who  calls  on  us  to  forsake  kindred  for 
His  sake,  Himself  made  this  sacrifice  for  our  sake. 
Yet  His  providence  did  not  waver.  There  zvas  a  home 
for  the  widow.  There  zvas  a  paradise  for  the  thief. 
But  let  it  not  be  forgotten  that  the  widow,  though 
ever  worthy  of  tenderest  reverence,  took  no  part  in 
His  redemptive  work.  She  was  lovingly  removed, 
and  her  tears  are  not  associated  with  our  salvation. 


HE  DIES  396 

Christ  and  His  Bible. 

In  those  fearful  hours,  what  occupied  His  mind  was 
the  Bible  that  He  loved.  Fortified  in  advance,  He 
knew  that  it  was  no  strange  thing  which  had  come 
upon  Him.  There,  near  Him,  were  the  soldiers,  as 
foretold,  parting  His  garments  among  them,  and 
casting  lots  for  His  raiment — of  which  raiment  we 
hear  nothing  further.  With  supreme  wisdom,  it  was 
dispersed.  If  the  Apostles  had  retained  it,  the  imme- 
diate effect  would  have  been  the  institution  of  relic- 
worship.  His  cross  has  also  gone,  and  the  thorns  from 
His  brow.  Nothing  of  His  remains  to  us,  except 
Himself;  and  material  relics,  whatever  they  are  sup- 
posed to  be,  only  obscure  Him. 

When  He  spoke,  it  was  in  the  very  words  of  the 
Psalmist — "  Eloi,  Eloi,  lama  sabachthani."  Not  know- 
ing the  Scriptures,  the  multitudes  misunderstood  the 
Christ.  He  was  not  evoking  Elijah  to  save  Him. 
No  prophet,  no  patriarch,  no  saint,  however  sacred, 
can  redeem  mankind;  and,  so  far  from  Elijah  sav- 
ing Him  (or  us).  He  was  Elijah's  Saviour,  as  Elijah 
had  testified.  "My  God,  My  God,"  was  what  He 
said,  "why  hast  Thou  forsaken  Me?"  Grave  as  are 
the  words,  I  know  not  how  to  express  it  otherwise  than 
by  saying  that  it  was  the  utterance  of  a  Son,  innocent 
Himself,  yet  disowned.  No  longer  did  He  speak  to 
"  the  Father,"  but  to  the  All-just  and  Omnipotent 
One,  then  exacting  punishment  of  Him  who  alone 
knew,  because  He  alone  shared,  God's  righteousness. 

Those  executions  were  not  without  priestly  attend- 
ants, who  wagged  their  heads  and  rendered  no  answer 
to  His  question  why  He  was  abandoned.  No  longer 
did  they  say,  "  This  man  is  a  sinner  who  deserves  to 


296  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

die."  Yet,  since  He  was  not  a  sinner,  the  Master  must 
have  been  suffering  for  others — to  admit  which  would 
have  been,  for  the  priests,  an  act  of  repentance,  a 
change  of  heart  and  mind.  Where  they  were  blind, 
the  thief  understood.  He  suddenly  stopped  his  taunts, 
and  rebuked  his  comrade,  so  confessing  the  Christ. 
And  Jesus,  forsaken  Himself,  did  not  forsake  that  new 
and  solitary  friend. 

"  It  is  Finished." 

All  Nature — the  flowers,  the  wind,  the  rainbow,  the 
fire — teaches  of  God;  and  so  is  it  with  darkness, 
which,  invading  the  day,  shadows  forth  His  dis- 
pleasure. Let  us  suppose  that  it  was  an  eclipse  of  the 
sun — in  itself  a  scientific  certainty — the  coincidence 
with  His  expiation  would  be  none  the  less  of  a  miracle; 
and,  for  Him,  the  gradual  lifting  of  that  black  gloom 
was  a  Divine  signal.  As  the  light  returned,  He  cried 
in  triumph,  loud  above  all  turmoil,  "  It  is  finished." 
He,  who  did  nothing  by  halves,  paid  the  debt  to  the 
uttermost  farthing,  and  in  His  heaven  there  is  no 
night.  "  Father,"  He  said,  more  gently,  "  into  Thy 
hands  I  commend  My  spirit."  His  conscious  Sonship 
was  restored.  He  spoke  no  longer  of  "  My  God." 
The  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Spirit  returned,  with 
His  death,  to  their  everlasting  Tri-unity;  and  were 
included,  as  at  His  baptism,  in  one  brief,  sufficient 
utterance.    God  and  man  were  reconciled. 

Since  His  redeeming  work  was  finished.  He  waited 
no  longer  for  death.  He  did  not  endure  pain  merely 
for  pain's  sake,  but  "  gave  up  the  ghost  " — which  was 
His  to  give  up;  and  while  the  thieves  lived  on.  He 
hung  there  dead.  Pilate  marveled  that  He  should  die 
so  quickly,  and  the  soldiers  also  did  not  think  that  the 


HE  DIES 

death  was  natural.  Death  itself  proved  Him  Divine; 
and  the  Centurion  who  saw  it,  remembering  His 
words  to  Pilate,  declared :  "  Truly,  this  was  the  Son  of 
God."  The  veil  of  the  Temple  was,  like  His  flesh, 
rent  from  head  to  foot,  and  torn  aside;  the  Holy  of 
Holies  in  the  Son  of  Man  was  revealed.  His  altars 
are  now  manifest  to  all.  In  His  salvation  there  are  no 
priestly  secrets.    A  child  can  learn  His  oracles. 

He  had  said  that  if  they  forbade  the  people  to  praise 
Him,  the  very  stones  would  cry  out.  The  mountains 
do  not  sin;  and,  less  hard  than  men's  hearts,  they 
were  rent  asunder  at  His  death,  and  an  earthquake,  as 
unforeseeable  to  science  as  an  eclipse  is  calculable, 
rolled  forth  His  dirge.  It  was  the  rock  saluting  the 
Rock  of  Ages — the  dust  worshiping  Him  who  would 
never  be  dust. 

The  scoffs  ceased.  The  crowds  slunk  away.  The 
soldiers  roughly  brake  the  legs  of  the  thieves  and 
hastened  their  end.  But  Jesus  was  already  dead,  and 
not  a  bone  of  Him  was  broken.  He  rose  again,  not 
crippled  or  maimed,  but  all-powerful  to  help.  One 
soldier  plunged  a  spear  into  His  side,  piercing  the 
heart,  but  even  this  outrage  added  to  His  glory. 
There  came  forth  a  cleansing  and  redeeming  stream 
of  blood  and  water,  in  fuller  measure  than  from  His 
hands  and  His  feet — an  abundant  Atonement,  not  of 
service  merely,  but  of  a  Love  unto  death. 


XLI 

THE  STONE  ROLLED  AWAY 

Setting  a  Watch — Joseph  of  Arimathca — Christ  of  the  Past. 

WHEN  our  Lord  hung  from  the  cross,  dead,  I 
doubt  if  there  was  one  person  on  earth  who 
beheved  that  He  would  rise  in  power  to  share  our  daily 
lives.  Hours  after  the  resurrection  occurred,  Cleophas 
and  his  friend,  walking  out  to  Emmaus,  argued  as  we 
argue  over  the  evidence.  When  the  women  told  the 
disciples  that  the  tomb  was  empty,  it  seemed  an  idle 
tale.  Mary  Magdalene,  even  after  seeing  two  angels 
in  the  sepulcher,  thought  that  her  Lord  had  been  taken 
away.  And  for  a  whole  week  later  Thomas  himself 
was  skeptical. 

On  the  day  of  the  crucifixion,  the  only  people  who 
thought  seriously  of  His  resurrection  were  the  rulers 
who  slew  Him.  Knowing  positively  that  He  was 
dead,  they  were  uneasy  in  their  triumph,  and  asked 
themselves  whether  this  was  really  to  be  the  end.  As 
we  read  how  they  acted,  we  discover  what  He  meant 
when  He  said,  "  No  man  cometh  unto  the  Father 
but  by  Me."  Having  rejected  the  Messiah,  these  men, 
with  all  their  theology  and  influence,  became  frankly 
"  godless."  In  their  perplexity,  they  did  not  pray — 
they  sought  no  guidance  from  their  Scriptures.    They 

298 


THE  STONE  ROLLED  AWAY  299 

had  chosen  Caesar  for  their  only  king,  and  to  Caesar's 
deputy  they  turned,  begging  of  Pilate  soldiers  to 
guard  the  tomb,  lest  the  body  be  stolen  away.  It  is 
truly  amazing  that  Pilate  doubted  whether  the 
entire  forces  of  the  Roman  Empire  would  be  suffi- 
cient to  hold  this  Crucified  Man.  Before  Christ  died, 
he  had  said,  "  Know  ye  not  that  /  have  power f " 
Afterwards,  he  went  no  further  than,  "  Make  it  as 
sure  as  ye  can."  Even  Pilate  wondered  about  the 
future. 

Setting  a  Watch. 

Armed  with  this  authority,  the  rulers  sealed  the 
stone  before  the  sepulcher  and  set  their  guard. 
Through  Friday  night,  Saturday,  and  into  early  Sun- 
day morning,  those  men,  doubtless  relieved  according 
to  military  routine,  fulfilled  sentry  duty  thereat.  The 
usual  civilian  watch  visited  the  place  on  their  rounds. 
It  was  clearly  explained  to  all  whom  it  concerned  that 
any  attempt  to  break  into  the  tomb  would  be  made, 
if  at  all,  on  the  third  day,  for  He  had  prophesied 
that  on  the  third  day  He  would  rise  again.  Yet 
soon  after  midnight,  amid  yet  another  earthquake, 
the  Roman  soldiers,  actually  more  terrified,  for  some 
reason,  than  the  watch  itself,  fled  to  the  city.  It 
was  an  offense  punishable  with  death,  but  no  charge 
of  cowardice  was  advanced.  On  the  contrary,  the 
entire  Sanhedrin  was  called  together.  The  tribunal 
which  decreed  our  Saviour's  crucifixion  solemnly 
denied  His  emergence  from  the  tomb.  And  in  the 
second  case,  as  in  the  first,  they  rejected  all  com- 
promise. Refusing  the  power  of  God,  they  had  to 
assume  a  fraud  by  man;  and  to  prove  fraud,  they  had 
to  perpetrate  it.     Before  His  death  thirty  pieces  of 


300  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

silver  were  enough  to  buy  the  betrayal  of  the  Re- 
deemer. But  as  He  lay  in  the  darkness  of  the  tomb, 
His  very  foes  began  to  perceive  that  His  importance — 
what  we  call  His  glory — was  growing,  and  likely  to 
grow,  among  the  nations.  To  slay  Him  a  second 
time,  not  physically,  but  by  spiritual,  by  intellectual 
poison,  they  voted  "  large  money,"  and  so  endowed 
that  destructive  analysis  of  God's  Good  News  to 
men  which  continues  to  this  day,  I  like  to  think 
that,  whereas  before  He  died  there  was  one  Apostle 
ready  to  betray  Him  for  so  small  a  sum,  after  He  had 
risen  no  offer  of  wealth,  however  lavish,  seduced  His 
followers  from  their  allegiance. 

So  far  from  stealing  away  His  blessed  body.  His 
Apostles  did  not  even  bury  Him,  The  disciples  of 
John  the  Baptist  had  laid  that  brave  man's  mutilated 
remains  in  a  grave,  now  forgotten,  and  turned  at  once 
from  the  dead,  however  sacred,  to  Him  who  was  the 
ever  more-abundant  Life.  But  with  Jesus  Himself 
thus  slain,  there  was  no  one  to  whom  Peter  and  John 
could  go  for  hope,  unless  He  came  back  again.  They 
left  Him  on  the  cross,  only  watched  by  two  or  three 
women;  and  as  we  read  of  the  mother  of  James  and 
Joses  standing  there,  we  wonder  why  James  and  Joses 
were  not  there  with  them.  It  was  doubtless  a  dis- 
couraging day  for  His  Church,  but  that  was  no  reason 
why,  in  that  dark  time,  women  alone  should  be 
worshipers.  Yet,  being  there,  they  supplied  an 
indispensable  link  in  the  chain  of  testimony  to  His 
triumph.  They  watched  His  body,  with  eyes  of 
intense  reverence,  as  He  was  carried  from  the  cross 
to  the  tomb.  And,  with  them  thus  faithful,  it  has 
never  been  suggested  that  His  was  other  than  a  real 
funeral.     They  only  left  the  tomb  when  the  stone 


THE  STONE  ROLLED  AWAY  301 

was  rolled  into  position,  the  seals  affixed,  and  the 
guard  set. 

Joseph  of  Arimathea. 

The  faith  of  Nicodemus  was  still  of  the  twilight, 
but  he  had  already  won  for  the  Redeemer  a  friend 
in  the  Sanhedrin,  Joseph  of  Arimathea — a  man  who 
was  rich,  highly  educated,  and  right-minded,  Joseph 
represents  the  silent  rally  to  our  Lord  of  the  quiet 
and  responsible  elements  in  a  nation — the  Huguenots, 
the  Puritans,  the  Evangelicals,  the  Jansenists;  and 
according  to  his  love,  Joseph  was  rewarded.  His 
view  was  that  our  Master  was  utterly  good,  but 
utterly  impotent — an  ideal,  but  unattainable;  and 
that  Pilate  was  still  in  complete  authority  over  His 
stricken  body.  He  did  not  tell  Pilate  that  Jesus  would 
rise  again.  He  only  begged  of  Pilate  the  permission 
to  bury  the  precious  remains.  And  it  was  actually 
Joseph's  love  and  reverence  that  rolled  the  stone, 
which  the  rulers  afterwards  sealed,  so  separating 
the  Redeemer  from  men,  as  happens  to-day  when  the 
truly  pious  surround  Him  with  traditions  of  their 
own,  which  the  State  afterwards  fixes  by  Law  and 
by  Force. 

Not  knowing  our  Saviour's  victory,  but  only  His 
love  and  goodness,  Joseph  bought  for  Him  fine  linen, 
clean  indeed  as  His  righteousness,  but  designed  for 
death,  not  life;  for  memory,  not  hope;  for  sorrow, 
not  service.  Yet  his  ministry  was  personal.  He  did 
not  delegate  to  professionals  this  handling  of  the 
Dead,  which  the  Pharisees  had  declared  to  be  defile- 
ment of  the  Passover.  Hardly  conscious  of  what 
he  was  doing,  Joseph  was  showing  forth  the  truth 
that  even  in  death   God's   Holy  One  could   see  no 


302  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

corruption,  and  from  his  day  onwards  they  who  die 
in  the  Lord  are  pronounced  clean. 

Christ  of  the  Past. 

For  Joseph  was  a  man  who  lived  under  the  constant 
shadow  of  the  last  enemy.  He  owned  a  garden  full 
of  flowers;  he  hewed  therein  a  tomb  of  rock  ready 
for  himself.  A  tomb  was  therefore  all  that  he  had  to 
offer  to  the  Saviour,  and  he  gave  it  freely.  Nicodemus 
and  Joseph,  the  unlooked-for  witnesses  of  Christ, 
were  not  ignorant  men,  but  trained  and  calculating 
statesmen.  Unable  to  bring  Him  back  again,  they 
filled  His  tomb  with  spices,  thereby  instituting  that 
kind  of  religion  which  lavishes  wealth  on  worship, 
surrendering  jewels,  filling  churches  with  incense, 
and  devoting  years  to  pilgrimages.  If  there  had  been 
no  resurrection,  the  sepulcher  would  have  become 
a  kind  of  Mecca,  where  the  Redeemer,  lying  dead, 
would  have  drawn  the  faithful,  as  Moslems  to-day 
worship  at  the  grave  of  their  Prophet.  The  faith 
that  we  know  would  have  been,  as  St.  Paul  tells  us, 
"  vain."  Indeed,  it  would  never  have  come  into 
being. 

The  example  of  Joseph  was  rapidly  followed  by  the 
holy  women.  They  went  home  and,  while  keeping 
the  Sabbath,  found  time  to  collect  and  prepare  yet 
more  spices.  What  they  thought  about  was  the  Christ 
of  the  past,  who  could  only  be  approached  at  certain 
seasons — not  on  the  Sabbath — and  in  a  certain  place, 
which  was  a  cemetery.  So  little  did  they  believe  in 
His  power  to  remove  mountains,  founded  by  the 
Eternal  Creator,  that  they  were  troubled  about  the 
stone  which  was  so  designed  by  man  as  to  be  rolled 
away.     And  they  had  to  learn   from  an  angel  the 


THE  STONE  ROLLED  AWAY  303 

simple  truth,  still  forgotten,  that  He  is  not  here; 
He  is  not  dead  and  gone,  He  is  risen,  gone  before  you 
into  Galilee — the  place  not  of  death  but  of  duty, 
of  the  old  and  unchanged  duty,  where  alone  we  must 
expect  to  find  Him.  And  when  next  we  read  of  rich 
men  and  women  bringing  gifts,  they  were  not  spices 
for  a  tomb,  but  money,  of  common  exchange,  to  be 
devoted,  not  to  His  altars,  but  to  His  poor.  It 
was  money  laid,  not  in  His  sepulcher,  but  at  the 
feet  of  His  living  Apostles. 

About  His  uprising  there  was  no  haste,  no  con- 
fusion. Throughout  the  great  day  of  the  feast.  He 
lay  silent,  a  rebuke  to  the  elaborate  worship  which 
was  proceeding  at  Jerusalem,  where  men  vainly 
endeavored  to  place  above  His  one  sacrifice  for  sin 
ceremonies  which  He  had  eternally  fulfilled.  And 
to  the  very  end,  He  was  perfect  in  obedience.  He 
did  not  roll  away  the  stone;  it  was  an  angel,  one  only 
of  myriads,  yet  omnipotent  when  instructed  by 
Omnipotence.  Master  of  all  flesh.  He  rose  in  solitude, 
none  helping  Him — instantly  escaping  from  the  napkin 
that  He  might  see,  and  from  the  linen  clothes  that 
He  might  move  forth,  and  arraying  Himself  gloriously 
in  eternal  garments.  So  He  walked  from  the  sepul- 
cher, unattended;  not  annihilating  the  stone,  but  leav- 
ing the  angel  enthroned  upon  it;  not  rending  the 
grave-clothes,  but  folding  them  in  due  order.  Here 
was  Christ  the  Historian,  the  Everlasting  Truth  of  all 
that  has  happened.  And  the  angel's  countenance 
shone  like  lightning  with  His  reflected  glory. 


XLII 
FROM  SIGHT  TO  FAITH 

Women  at  the  Sepulcher — The  Confession  of  Thomas — Ascen- 
sion into  Heaven. 

I  COME  now  to  the  final  scenes  of  our  Lord's  visible 
life  on  earth.  It  is  not  surprising  that  we 
sometimes  fail  to  realize  His  presence  among  us,  for 
His  first  disciples  only  believed  in  His  resurrection 
when  they  saw  Him  face  to  face.  Where  other  con- 
querors ride  proudly  through  their  defeated  foes,  He 
showed  Himself  only  to  those  who  loved  Him,  and 
then  privately,  "  the  doors  being  shut."  The  chief 
priests  and  scribes  did  not  discern  Him,  nor  did  Pilate, 
nor  Herod.  And  with  Peter,  who  denied  Him,  and 
James  His  brother^  who  was  so  slow  to  believe  on 
Him,  there  were  interviews  so  secret  that  we  know 
nothing  of  what  abundant  pardon  He  there  granted. 
He  also  appeared  to  women,  to  the  Apostles,  to  a  com- 
pany of  five  hundred,  and  to  others,  all  of  whom  went 
forth  into  the  world,  not  as  logicians  or  as  philoso- 
phers, not  as  clergy  or  as  priests,  but  as  eye-witnesses, 
"  with  the  mighty  ordination  of  His  pierced  hands." 
It  was  no  fleeting  vision.  "  He  was  seen  of  them  con- 
stantly for  forty  days." 

804 


FROM  SIGHT  TO  FAITH  305 

Women  at  the  Sepulcher. 

The  women  who  first  sought  Him  were  the  first  to 
see  Him.  When  they  set  forth,  moved  by  the  love 
that  casteth  out  fear,  the  Sun  of  Righteousness  had 
not  risen,  and  it  was  still  dark.  These  women  were  in 
no  delusive  ecstasy.  After  the  emotions  of  the  day 
of  crucifixion,  they  had  rested  quietly  throughout  the 
Sabbath.  On  their  way  to  the  Sepulcher,  they  talked 
quite  reasonably  about  the  stone — how  it  was  to  be 
rolled  away.  On  reaching  the  tomb,  they  found  that 
the  stone  was  removed — and  at  once  each  of  them 
revealed  her  own  personality.  Mary  of  Magdala, 
emotional  and  excitable,  hurried  back  to  Peter  and 
John.  Her  companions,  of  a  more  disciplined  char- 
acter, looked  into  the  sepulcher,  and  saw  the  angel, 
without  fright  or  flinching.  He  spoke  calmly,  bidding 
them  leave  the  tomb,  however  sacred,  and  appeal  to 
the  Living  Manhood  of  the  race.  In  the  splendor  of 
that  service,  they  forgot  their  spices;  nor  did  they 
linger  over  the  grave-clothes,  though  worthier  of 
reverence  than  any  relics  since  devised.  In  the 
amazement  of  these  women  there  was  no  alloy  of 
superstition  or  curiosity,  and  because  they  left  the 
tomb,  and  all  it  still  contained,  therefore  they  saw  the 
Living  Christ.  Worshiping  Him  as  God,  they  held 
Him  firmly  by  the  feet,  thus  gripping  His  Humanity 
with  His  Deity,  and  hearing  His  very  words,  eternal, 
yet  in  their  own  language.  He  also,  like  the  angel, 
sent  them  to  the  men  who  had  drifted  from  Him, 
and  especially  to  Peter  with  the  contrite  heart. 

Summoned  by  Mary  of  Magdala,  Peter  and  John 
ran  to  the  tomb.  Once  more,  let  us  notice  how  each, 
like  the  women,  displayed  his  own  individuality.    John 


306  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

was  the  better  athlete,  but  Peter  was  bolder  in  spirit. 
As  he  plunged  twice  into  the  lake,  so  plunged  he  into 
the  tomb,  seeing  the  clothes  neatly  folded,  with  the 
napkin  by  itself,  and  he  knew  that  no  thief  did  it. 
Then  and  only  then  did  John  look  into  the  sepulcher, 
and,  there  recognizing  the  escape  of  the  Spiritual  from 
the  Material,  he  believed. 

Mary  of  Magdala  had  now  returned,  and  stood  there 
weeping.  To  her  intense  personal  love,  it  was  terrible 
to  think  that  her  Lord  was  abroad  in  the  world,  un- 
shielded from  rough  hands;  and  even  when  she  saw 
two  angels  in  the  sepulcher,  sitting  where  His  head 
and  feet  had  been  lest  any  should  approach  and 
disturb  His  revealed  evidences,  she  was  not  comforted. 
Christ  risen  was  still  to  her  a  bereavement,  when 
suddenly  she  turned  round,  and  saw  Him,  there  in  the 
dim  light  of  the  dawn.  So  near  was  He,  so  actual  to 
her  sight,  that  she  supposed  Him  to  be  the  gardener. 
"  Why  weepest  thou  ?  Whom  seekest  thou  ?  "  He  had 
asked.  It  was  only  when  He  called  her,  as  He  always 
calls  His  own,  by  name,  that  she  cried  out,  "  Rabboni." 
Hers  was  faith  at  a  word;  and  when  she  would  have 
touched  Him,  falling  back  on  physical  aids  to  rever- 
ence, He  forbade  her,  claiming  not  her  fingers  only, 
but  her  mind,  and  appealing  from  her  impulses  to 
her  Intelligence,  by  showing  Himself  as  the  Lord  Christ 
who  is  not  only  risen,  but  will  ascend  to  the  Father, 
and  will  so  dwell  with  us,  not  in  body  but  by  the 
Spirit.    She  henceforth  must  walk  by  faith. 

Two  disciples  were  going  to  Emmaus.  They  had 
before  them  all  the  evidence,  past  and  present,  which 
pointed  to  His  resurrection;  but  this  evidence, 
though  conclusive  as  they  summarized  it,  was  not 
enough.      Joining    the    two    on    their    journey,    He 


FROM  SIGHT  TO  FAITH  307 

"  opened  to  them  the  Scriptures,"  until  their  hearts — 
so  slow  to  believe — glowed  within  them.  It  was  not 
Assyriology  that  kindled  the  flame,  or  research,  but 
His  living  voice  explaining  the  ancient  Scriptures  in 
terms  of  Himself.  They  besought  Him  to  come  in 
and  dwell  with  them,  not  knowing  who  He  was.  To 
their  hospitality,  as  to  every  good  impulse.  He  re- 
sponded; but  it  was  not  until  He  broke  bread  that 
they  knew  Him  by  His  familiar  actions.  Risen,  He 
was  the  same  to-day  as  yesterday;  and,  so  recognized, 
He  vanished  from  their  sight,  though  not  from  their 
hearts.  Thus  did  they,  like  the  others,  learn  to  walk 
by  faith  alone;  and  their  way  led  them  back  to 
Jerusalem,  where  were  His  still  discouraged  followers, 
fear  in  their  souls. 

The  Confession  of  Thomas. 

Not  in  excitement  was  He  seen  of  them.  His  word 
was  peace;  it  was  the  usual  greeting,  as  we  would 
say,  "  Good  day,  or  God's  day,  be  unto  you,"  and  as 
their  gaze  steadied,  they  found  Him  to  be  no  phantom, 
but  flesh  and  blood — a  Man  among  men,  who  could 
eat  a  piece  of  a  broiled  fish  and  an  honeycomb. 
Thomas  was  absent,  and,  like  others,  he  doubted.  Yet 
his  will  was  towards  the  Redeemer,  for  seven  days 
afterwards  he  rejoined  the  Apostles,  and  met  the  Lord, 
with  the  print  of  the  nails  in  His  hands  and  the  wounds 
in  His  side,  at  which  proofs  that  He  was  a  Saviour 
who  really  died  for  sin,  the  Apostle  cried,  "  My  Lord 
and  my  God !  "  A  noble  confession,  at  once  personal 
and  universal.  Yet  happier  still,  said  the  Redeemer, 
are  those  who,  not  having  seen,  do  in  their  souls  be- 
lieve. Once  more  it  was  faith  transcending  sight ;  and 
many  years  later,  the  Apostle  Peter,  writing  to  disciples 


308  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

throughout  Pontus,  Galatia,  Cappadocia,  Asia,  and 
Bithynia — many  of  them  the  ancestors  of  the  martyred 
Armenians  of  to-day — said,  "  IV horn,  having  not  seen, 
ye  love." 

He  said  He  would  meet  them  in  GaHlee,  the  place  of 
the  old  duties,  and  at  His  word  they  left  Jerusalem  and 
returned  to  the  dull  occupation  of  fishing.  Journey- 
ing before  them  to  the  old  trysting-place,  He  was 
watching  them  as  they  fruitlessly  toiled,  and  His 
voice,  though  unrecognized,  guided  them  even  in 
their  daily  occupation.  In  the  dimmest  light,  John 
knew  the  distant  Christ  and  told  Peter — who  came  to 
Him  through  the  water,  learning  how  He  who  wears 
our  nature  cares  for  us,  even  in  material  things  like 
warmth  and  food.  He  did  not  condemn  Peter's 
fishing — most  of  His  disciples  worked  at  a  trade — but 
He  recalled  a  higher  duty  than  wage-earning :  "  Feed 
My  sheep."  Whatever  be  your  business,  be  also  a 
shepherd.  Go  forth,  not  once,  nor  twice,  nor  thrice, 
but  as  many  times  as  in  past  years  you  have  denied 
Him.  And  let  your  motive  be,  not  a  desire  for  ad- 
vertisement or  self-merit,  but  only  His  constraining, 
binding  love. 

To  the  last,  they  clung  to  His  visible  presence. 
They  would  talk  to  Him  so  freely  that,  as  in  the  old 
days,  they  even  asked  Him  when  He  would  set  up  His 
Kingdom :  but  the  Christ  of  special  circumstances  and 
special  places  had  to  lead  them  on  to  know  Him  as  the 
Christ  who  fills  the  heaven  of  heavens,  and  is  every- 
where with  us  at  every  time.  In  His  company,  one 
day,  they  walked  the  familiar  path  to  the  Mount  of 
Olives,  His  place  for  communion  with  the  Father. 
So  like  was  He  unto  His  brethren,  that  the  city  there 
across  the  valley  knew  nothing  of  that  farewell  prog- 


FROM  SIGHT  TO  FAITH  309 

ress.  Standing  with  them  on  the  summit  of  all  that 
is  possible  on  earth,  He  could  see  the  uplands  around 
His  cradle,  the  valley  of  His  baptism,  the  wilderness 
of  His  temptation,  the  Temple  of  His  rejection,  the 
Calvary  where  He  suffered,  the  Garden  where  He  was 
in  agony,  and  the  sepulcher  whence  He  rose  from  the 
dead.  Once  more.  He  could  look  abroad — north, 
south,  east,  and  west — as  from  the  high  mountains 
of  His  teaching  and  His  transfiguration,  and  we  can 
almost  see  His  gesture  as  He  sweeps  the  horizon,  with 
the  Arm  that  saves,  the  Eye  that  sees,  and  cries: 
"  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  tell  the  good  news  to 
every  creature."  To  win  the  world  with  men  and 
women,  so  weak,  so  full  of  sins — this  was  His  astound- 
ing. His  majestic  enterprise. 

Ascension  into  Heaven. 

In  a  moment,  the  ignorant,  the  vacillating,  the 
sorely  tempted  among  obscure  men  and  women  were 
raised  up  for  purposes  which  reach  further  than  the 
dreams  of  statesmanship,  of  science,  of  conquest,  and 
of  the  arts.  Still  clothed  in  man's  flesh  and  blood, 
but  supreme  over  all  nature  and  her  forces,  He  rose 
from  the  earth  as  from  the  tomb,  unassisted  by  man 
or  angel,  and  as  He  rose,  "  Behold,"  said  He,  "  I  am 
with  you  always,  even  to  the  end  of  the  age." 

Not  in  the  upper  room  alone  would  He  visit  us. 
Not  on  the  road  to  Emmaus  only  would  He  accompany 
us.  Not  only  by  the  lake-side  of  Gennesaret  would 
He  care  for  us.  When  thou  passest  through  the 
waters.  He  will  be  with  thee;  and  through  the  fire 
thou  shalt  not  be  burned.  "  I  am  with  you  always," 
was  what  He  said;  "the  great  I  am" — Jehovah, 
restored  to  men,  not  to  the  Jews  alone,  but  to  every 


310  THE  CHRIST  WE  FORGET 

people,  in  every  century.  "  Jehovah  with  us " 
meant  "God  with  us";  the  full  circle  was  complete. 
At  His  ascension  we  return  to  the  Emmanuel  of  His 
annunciation.  The  cloud  received  Him — the  Cloud 
of  God,  known  to  Moses,  known  to  Elijah,  and  bright 
with  the  veiled  glory  of  the  Eternal — the  Shekinah 
Cloud — and  He  vanished  out  of  their  sight.  But  only 
out  of  their  sight.  Their  faith  held  firm.  They  shed 
no  tears.  They  put  on  no  garments  of  mourning. 
And  when  two  angels  told  them  that  they  had  looked 
long  enough  into  heaven,  that  theirs  was  not  to  be  a 
merely  meditative  piety,  these  men  of  Galilee — prac- 
tical men,  hard-handed  and  capable — walked  back  to 
Jerusalem,  still  noting  that  it  was  a  Sabbath  day's 
journey,  as  if  this  mattered;  and  our  Lord  Jesus, 
promising  to  come  again  in  the  clouds,  began  His  ever- 
enlarging  and  ever-deepening  work  from  above,  which 
continues  in  the  hearts  of  men  and  women  and  their 
children  even  unto  this  day. 


INDEX 


Absolution — 

sin,    from,   granted   by   God   only, 
218. 
Achan — 
Judas  Iscariot  of  Old  Testament, 
242. 

Agents  Provocateurs — 

attempted    entanglement    of    Jesus 
by,  281,  282. 
Alabaster    Box,   The — 

two    incidents   of,   compared,   250, 
251- 
Almsgiving — 
manner  of,  as  laid  down  by  Jesus, 
iSS- 
Alnwich   Castle — 

vacant    chair    left    for    Christ    at, 
26s. 
Ambassadors — 

Christ,     of,     cold     reception     ac- 
corded to,  207. 
Amusement,   Places  of — 

neglect  of  Jesus  in,  242. 
Anaesthetics — 

refusal   of,   by  Jesus,   292. 
Angels — 
appearance    of,     to    disciples    of, 

.110. 

evil,  actuality  to  Jesus  of,   120. 

good,    actuality   to   Jesus   of,    120. 

guardian,    35,    55,    120. 

guidance     and     help     granted     by 
visions  of,  34. 

message   of,   to  shepherds,   34. 

ministering,     35,     120,     130,     136, 
271. 

reference   by   Jesus  to,    73. 

rolling  away   of   stone   by,   303. 

sepulcher    of    Jesus    guarded    by, 
306. 

song  of  the,  35,  36.  37- 
Anna  the  Widow — 

as  a   prophetess,   40. 

visits       Temple      apparently      by 
chance,  39,  40. 
Annunciation,    The — 

as   depicted   by    painters,    19. 

convincing  proofs  of,    18. 
Apostles,  The — 

calling   of   the   first,    199-200. 

commission  of,  scope  of,  202,  203. 


Apostles,  The,  continued — 

conversion,    its    new    meaning    to, 

200. 
dispute    as    to    precedence,     204, 

205. 
missed  opportunity  by,  237. 
passion    for   personal   success   dis- 
played by,   205. 
preparation    of,    for    their    work, 
201,  202. 
Application,    Modern — 

teaching  of  John  the  Baptist  and 
its,   108. 
Aristocracy — 

as  founded  by  Jesus,   51. 
Arithmetic — 

partiality  of  Jesus  for,  65,  66. 
Arrest,  Wrongful — 

Jesus,   of,    279-280. 
Arts — 

fidelity   to    God's    will    in    Nature 
as  test  of  all,  13. 
Ascension — 

Jesus,    of,    309-310. 
Asceticism — 
Jesus   not   a   follower   of,    44,    68. 
John  the  Baptist  as  a  type  of,  43, 
44. 
Ascetics — 
John  the  Baptist  last  and  greatest 
of,  43-4S- 
Atonement,   The — 

doctrine  of,  manner  in  which  re- 
ceived  by    early    followers,    112. 
what  implied  by,    111-113,    170. 

Bank  Holiday — 
visit    of    Jesus    to    Jerusalem    on 
equivalent    of    our,    72. 
Baptism — 

institution    of,    by   John    the    Bap- 
tist,  87. 
rite  of,  administered  by  both   fol- 
lowers  of   Jesus   and   John   the 
Baptist,  87. 
Baptismal    Regeneration — 

Temple  sacrifices  replaced  by,  87. 
Barabbas — 
Jesus    and,    choice    between,    289- 
290. 


3" 


312 


INDEX 


Barabbas,  continued — 

Jesus    and,    comparison    between, 
28Q. 
Bartimxus,    Blind — 

healing  of,   183. 
Battlefields — 

neglect  of  Jesus  on,  242. 
Bazaars — 

blatancy   of,   distasteful   to   Jesus, 

155.  156. 
Beatitudes,   The — 

basis  of,   187. 

character  dealt  with  by  seven  of, 

156,  157- 

Old   Testament   teaching   as   bear- 
ing on,  167. 
Bells,  Church- 
destruction  of,  37. 
Bethany — 

home   at,   and   its   occupants,   249, 
250. 

last  few  nights  of  His   life   spent 
by  Jesus  at,  248,  249. 

special  distinction  of,  248,  252. 
Bethlehem  of  Judea — 

inn    at,    references   to,    27,   28. 

traditions  of,   26. 
Betrayal,   The — 

foretold  by  Jesus,  260,  261. 

Jesus,    of,    259-262,    273-275,    299- 

.300. 

Bible.       Hebrew.     See      Testament, 

Old. 
Bible,  Jewish.     See  Testament,  Old. 

Bible,  The— 

as  a  "  Book  of  Life,"  62. 

one  and   indivisible,   168. 

ritual  supplanted  by  reading  of,  46. 
Blind    Man,   The— 

teaching   conveyed   by   healing   of, 
214-216,    222. 
Blindness,    Spiritual — 

dangers  of,   216. 
Body- 
soul   and.    Spirit  of   Christ   ruling 
over,   199. 
Book- 
aim  and  scope  of,   i,  2,  241. 
"  Book    of    the    Dead."     See    under 

British   Museum  and   Egypt, 
Books — 

none  written  by  Jesus,  65. 
Bov   Scouts — 

Girl      Guides     and,      children      of 
Jerusalem   compared    to,    146. 
Bravado^ 

wonders    of   Jesus    never    inspired 
by,    13s.    136. 
Bread  of  Life — 

Jesus   the,    129,    130. 

the   Heavenly,    129,    130. 


Bribery^ 
bargain      of      Judas      Iscariot     to 
betray    Christ,   239,    259. 
British  Museum — 

Egyptian    "  Book    of    the    Dead  " 
in,  62,  63. 
British   Rule- 
teaching     of     John     the     Baptist 
illustrated  by,   108. 


Caesarism — 

Christ  or,  96. 

military  service  and,  27, 

no    escape    from,    27. 
Caiaphas  the  High   Priest — 

questioning  of  Jesus  by,  280,  281. 

rending     of     robe     by,     symbolic 
meaning    of,    283. 
Calendar — 

change  of,   222. 
Canaan — 

as  "  Land  of  Promise  "  and  home 
of  liberty,   59,   61. 
Carlvle— 

reference  to,  42. 
Carpenter — 

Jesus     designed     for     trade     of, 
40. 

knowledge  of  Jesus  as  a,  70. 
Cathedrals^ — 

destruction    of,    73. 
Cavell    Nurse — 

latent   courage  as   exemplified   by, 
80. 
Celibate— 

Zacharias    gives    thanks    as    hus- 
band   not   as,   46. 
Census.  Modern — 

heavenly    census    compared    with, 
27. 

Census,    Roman — 

effect  on  unborn  Messiah  of,  27. 
Centurion's   Servant — 

healing  of,    184. 
Chance — 

visit     of     Anna     the     Widow     to 
Temple,  39,  40. 
Chapels — 
churches     and,      Jesus,     crucified 
afresh   in   modern,   242. 
Character — 

Beatitudes  dealing  with,   156.   157. 
only   evidence   admitted   by   Jesus, 
156. 
Charta,   The   Children's,   56. 
Children — 

as     retinue     and     bodyguard     of 

Jesus,    146. 
education     of,     as     distinguishing 
mark   of   Christian   lands,    56. 


INDEX 


313 


Children,  continued — 
guardian      angels      appointed      by 

Jesus  for,  35,  55,   120. 
Jesus  loved  and  followed  by,   146. 
Jewish  mothers'    belief   in   sacred- 

ness  of,   10,   11. 
love   and   care   of   Jesus    for,    55, 

S6. 
sacredness  to   Jesus   of,   50. 
Chivalry — 

testimony  of  the  centurion  at  the 
Cross    in    its    bearing    on,    109. 
Christ-bearers — 

desire  of  Christ  for  us  as,  244. 
Christian   Era — 
commencement   of,   uncertainty   as 
to,   25,   26. 
Christianity — 
gifts  of,  96. 
Christmas — 
commercial     life    as    affected    by 

abolition  of,  26. 
first,    the,    25-32. 

most  widely   honored   festival,   26. 
Christ,  The.     See  Jesus. 
Church,    Early    Christian — 

foundation    of    modern    insurance 

laid  by,  97,  98. 
members      of,      care      in      money 

matters  of,  260. 
socialism   practiced  by,   97. 
Church,  The   Catholic — 
relic-worship    and,    62, 
Churches — 
chapels       and,       Jesus      crucified 

afresh   in   modern,   242. 
modern,    compared   with   Kingdom 
of  Heaven,  203. 
Churches.    Christian — 
temples  of   Egypt  compared  with, 
58. 
Circumstances — 

Beatitude,  one  only,  dealing  with, 
157- 
Civilization — 

weeds  of,  as  affecting  teaching  of 
Jesus,   162. 
Civil  Justice — 

as  laid  down  by  Jesus,   156. 
Classes,  Governing — 

denouncement    by    John    the    Bap- 
tist of,  90,  91. 
Commentaries — 
text-books     and,     compared     with 
parables,   159. 
Commerce — 
power  of,  compared   with   that  of 
capture   and   conquest,    51. 
Common  Things — 

respect      of      Jesus      for      useful 
though,  69.   70. 


Condemnation,   Unjust — 

Jesus,  of,  282-284. 
Consecration — 

demands  of,   160,   161. 
Conversion — 

new  meaning  to   Peter  and  other 

Apostles  of,   200. 
resultant   effect   of,    267. 
Corruption — 
cruelty    and,    at    base    of    Roman 

Empire,  107. 
wire-pulling  and,   142. 
Courtesy — 

tact  and,  of  Jesus,   147. 
Creeds — 
catechism      of      Jesus     compared 
with,  75- 
Criticism — 

coipparison    between    criticism    of 
Evangelists    and    the    higher,    6. 
Criticism,   Modern — 
belief  or  disbelief  in  miracles,   as 

contended  by,   170. 
German,      with      regard     to     dis- 
courses in   Fourth  Gospel,  5. 
message   of   Christ   unprotected   hy 

critical    safeguards,    4. 
methods     adopted     by     Christ     to 
meet    temptation    in    wilderness 
as  judged  by,  121. 
probable  reception  in   present  day 
of  unreported  words  and  deeds 
of  Christ,  3,  4. 
purifying    mysticism    of    Incarna- 
tion   and    Its    effect    on    modern 
lands,    3. 
Spirit  of  Truth  left  by  Jesus  not 

spirit  of,  163. 
temptations  as  judged  by,   128. 
view   of   scientists  with   regard   to 
virgin  birth,    19. 
Cross.  The— 

as  a  sign  of  conquest,  293-294. 
compelling  power  of,  256,  257. 
shape  of,  symbolical  of  embracing 
love  of  Jesus,  292. 
Crowning — 

Jesus,  of,  with  thorns,  286. 
Crucifixion,   The,   290-297. 
Cudworth,  Ralph,  31. 

Dangers — 

as  faced  by  Jesus,  233. 
Darkness — 
disapproval  of  Jesus  for  works  of, 
209,   210. 
Death— 

as  regarded  by  Jesus,  233. 

life  and,  of  Christ,  symbolism  of, 

241,   242. 
pain     and,     Christ's     method     cf 
dealing  with,   194,   195-197. 


314 


INDEX 


Death,  continueri — 

teachings  of  Jesus  concerning,  6i, 
6i,  63. 
Devil,  The— 

appearance     as     angel     of     light, 

danger  of,   127. 
armorial  bearings  of,  140. 
false       representation       of       our 

Saviour  by,  226,  227. 
Jesus   accused  of  being  in   league 

with,  226. 
presentation     of     himself    to     our 

intellects,  226,   227. 
sleepless    hostility    of,    throughout 

life  of  Christ,  122,  123. 
wiles  of,  139.   140. 
Devils — 

actuality  of,  to  Jesus,   120. 
Dickens,  Charles — 
agreement    with    Puritan    divines, 
31- 
Disarmament — 

socialism    and,    essential    to    well- 
doing,  146. 
Disciples — 

calling  of,  by  Jesus,   114,   115. 
failure    of,    to    watch    with    their 

Lord,  271. 
last     appearance     of     Christ     to, 

308-309. 
power    given    by    Jesus    to,     for 

working   miracles,    172,    173. 
taught    by    Jesus    to    pray,     116, 
272. 
Discoveries.   Modern —  _ 

Christianity  as  affecting,  76. 
need  of  worship  added  to,  216. 
Disease — 

as  a  symbol  of  sin,   199. 
Dishonesty — 

definition    of,    according    to    John 
the  apostle,  260. 
Dissent — 

present-day,  cause  of,  166. 
Distinctions,  Essential,  91-93. 
Divination — 

ancient     Hebraic,     fulfilment     of, 
2iq. 
Divinity    of    Jesus — 
arguments  concerning,    178. 
as   proved   by   Book   of   Leviticus, 

278. 
death   as  proof  of,   297. 
denial   of,   inevitable  consequences 

resulting   from,   219. 
eternal  truth   of.   223,   224. 
in    light    of    Gospels,    178,    179. 
no  academic   dogma,   222,   223. 
supreme  choice   facing   world  con- 
cerning,   226,    227,   230. 
Dove — • 

emblem   of  Holy   Spirit,   113,    114.    | 
symbolical  meaning  of,  113. 


Drama — 
regrettable,    as    affecting    teaching 
of  Jesus,  162. 
Dreams — 

guidance       and        help        granted 
through,     34.     See    also    Warn- 
ings and   Worship, 
warnings  conveyed  by,  282. 
Duties — 

practical  knowledge  of  Jesus  with 
regard  to  daily,  68,  69,  71. 
Duties.  Common — 

as  transformed  by  Jesus,  264. 
Duty,  Laws  of — 
consideration  of  Jesus  for,  197. 

Eagle,  The— 

symbolism  of,  8. 
Early   Rising — 

life  of  Jesus  a  plea  for,  70. 
East — 

West    and,    comparison    between, 
256,  257. 
Economy,  Patriotic — 

parade    of,    distasteful    to    Jesus, 
iSS.   156. 
Education — 

Jesus,  of,  64,   65. 

lack     of     advantages     offered     to 
Jesus      compared      with      those 
enjoyed  by  St.   Paul,  40. 
Egypt— 

as  "  House  of  Bondage "  and 
place  of  tyranny,   59,  61. 

comfort  and  ease  of,  57,  58. 

device  of,  for  gaining  immor- 
tality, 61. 

doom  of,  58,  59. 

influence  of,  on  thought  and  life 
of  Jesus,  61. 

name,  meaning  of,  57. 

plagues  of,  58. 

teachings  of  its  "  Book  of  the 
Dead,"  62,  63. 

temples  of,  compared  with  Temple 
of  Jerusalem  and  Christian 
churches,    58. 

unresponsive  attitude  of,  to  mis- 
sion of  Christ,  57. 

Elements,    The.     See    Last    Supper, 

The. 
Elijah— 

Moses    and    greatest    workers    of 
miracles,  172. 
Elizabeth — 

reception  of  the  Virgin   Mary  by, 
20. 
Embezzlement — 

JudaF    Iscariot    guilty   of,    239. 
sin   of.   common   in   all   classes   of 
society,    239. 


INDEX 


315 


"  Emmanuel  " — 

blasphemous  use  of  name,  38,  39. 
occurrence  of,  in  New  Testament, 
37- 
Emmaus — 

Christ  appears  to  two  disciples  on 
their    way    to,    306-307. 
Enlightenment,  Modern — 

need  for,  of  mind  as  well  as  eye, 
216. 
Environment — 

as  affected   by   presence  of  Jesus, 
195- 
Esau.     See  Jacob  and  Esau. 

Etiquette — 

perfection  of  Jesus  in,   89. 
Evangelization — 

world,    promise    of,     foreseen    by 
our  Lord,  256. 
Evangelists,    The — 

higher     criticism     compared     with 
that  of,  6. 
Evil- 
good   and,    compared    to    a   three- 
fold   cord,    126. 
strong   man,    need   of,   to   combat, 
227. 
Exile — 

Jesus,   as   an,   57,   60. 
Externals  of  Life — 
value    of,    recognized    by    Jesus, 


Ezra — 
home-rule      as      established 
Nehemiah   and,   81. 


by 


Failure — 

success    or,    faithful    following    of 
Christ    under,    245,    246. 
Faith- 
blessing   of   Jesus  as   affected   by, 

184,    196. 
Galilee  and   Temple  contrasted  in 

the  matter    of,   209. 
miracles   as   a   reward   of,    136. 
Farming — 

interest  of  Jesus  in,   70. 
Fasting — ■ 

rule  of  Jesus  with  regard  to,  155. 
Fatherhood — 

heavenly,    to    be    esteemed    above 
earthly,    93,    94. 
Fenian  ism — 
avoidance    of    all    revolt    and,    by 
John    the    Baptist,    81,    82. 
Fiction — 
deluge    of,    as    affecting    teaching 
of    Jesus,    162. 
Finance — 
as  taught  by  Jesus,  66. 


Finance,      continued — 

rules    laid    down    by    Christ    con- 
cerning,   97. 
Fire-Brigades — 

origin    of,    due    to    inspiration    of 
Christ,    196. 
Fisherman — 

Jesus  as  a  skilled,   70. 
Forgiveness — 

prayer    for,    to    be    addressed    to 

God  only,   218. 
teaching  of  Jesus  with  regard  to, 
190-192. 
Fortune-telling — 
character-reading     by     Jesus     and 
its  bearing   upon,    115. 
Fox,    George — 
comparison      between      John      the 
Baptist  and,  46. 
Freedom — 
setting   colt    at   liberty    symbolical 
of,   244,   245. 
Friend — 

accessible,  Jesus  as  an,   149. 
Friendship — 

home    at    Bethany    as    ideal    ex- 
ample   of,    250. 
Funeral    Reform — 

need    of,    161. 
Future — 

past  and,   sacred   claim   of,   recog- 
nized by  Jesus,  74,   146. 


Gabriel,    Angel — 

reception  by  Zacharias  of,  44,  45. 
visit  of  the,  to   Virgin  Mary,   18, 
19,    20. 

Genealogy  of   Christ — 

absorbing     interest      and      signifi- 
cance  of,    14,    15. 

as    traced    respectively     by     Mat- 
thew and   Luke,    13. 

candor    of    Matthew    in    treatment 
of,    14,    15. 

deep    meaning    indicated    by    Mat- 
thew's   arrangement    of,    16. 

discrepancies    between     Matthew's 
and  Luke's  accounts  of,   15,   16. 
Geography — 

as     symbol     to     Jews     and     other 
ancient    nations,    87. 
Gethsemane — 

agony  of  Christ  in  Garden  of,  270. 

influence     of,     on     the     Apostles, 
273- 

prayer    of    Christ    in    Garden    of, 
270,    272,    273. 

Girl   Guides — 

Boy      Scouts     and,      children      of 
Jerusalem  compared  to,   146. 


316 


INDEX 


GivinK   and    Getting — 

as     exemplified     by     Jesus     and 
Barabbas,   289. 
Glory — 

as      exemplified      by      Jesus      and 

the  Herods,   235.   236,   237- 
Jesus,    of,    growth    in    tomb    of, 
300. 
Golgotha — 

symbolism   of,   290. 
Good — 

evil    and,    compared    to    a    three- 
fold cord,   126. 
Good    News — 

God    of,    present-day    destructive 
analysis  of,   300. 
Gospel,   The — 

reception    of,     as    exemplified    by 
Parable   of   the   Sower,    162. 
Gospels,  The — 

authenticity   claimed   for,    6. 
characteristics      of      writers      of, 

6-8. 
date  of,  assertion  as  to,   10. 
eternal   life  of   Christ   believed   in 

by   writers   of,   9,    10. 
genuineness    proved    by    variation 

of  account,   5. 
how  handed  down  to  us,  4. 
immortal  language  of;  4. 
portraiture  of  Jesus  in,    186. 
quarterings    on    royal    escutcheon 

of    Saviour,    6. 
reading,  method  of,   s,  6. 
supplement  each   other,   4,   5. 
their   writers,   4-8. 
"  Greater    Things,    The  "— 
works  of  Christ  and,   196. 

Greece — 

glory  of,  declining,  33. 

Greeks —  .  .  ,    , 

some,  desire  interview  with  Jesus, 

2S6. 

Guilt- 
pain   as  symbol  of,    199. 

Happiness — 

rules    governing   kingdom    of,    83, 
84. 
Health— 

dailv  conduct  of  Jesus  as  affect- 
ing  his   perfect,    67. 
Herod   the   King — 

attitude  of  towards  Jesus,   52- 
compared    with    Esau,    52. 
iniquity   as  typified   by,    53. 
Jesus   and,   contrast   between,    28s- 
^  Pilate    and.    Jesus    arraigned    be- 
fore,   286-290. 
right   of.   to   the   Crown,   49,   50. 

Herods.   The— 

glory     as     exemplified     by,      23s, 
236,   237. 


Heroism — 

Christ,   of,    134. 

height    of,    laid    down    in    Epistle 
to    Hebrews,    198. 

latent  courage  and,  80. 
History — 

influence  of  Jesus  upon,  52. 
Holidays — 

none  taken  by  Jesus,    129. 
Holy  Communion,  The,  263-269. 
Holy  Family,   The — 

accommodation   in   inn  sought  by, 

27- 

return  to  Nazareth  of,  60. 
Holy   Spirit,   The— 
descent  on  Jesus  of,   in   form   of 
Dove,  113. 
Home-rule — 

as  established  by  Ezra  and  Nehe- 
miah,   81. 
Hosea.  The  Prophet- 
name,  meaning  of,  59. 
Hospitality — 

acceptance  of,  by  Jesus,   228. 
home   at    Bethany   as   ideal    exam- 
ple of,    250. 
true,  plea  of  Jesus  for,  28,  29. 
Hospitals — 

origin    of,    due   to    inspiration    of 

Christ.   196. 
Spirit  oit   Christ  ruling  over  soul 
and  body  in,   199. 
Hotels,  Modern — 

failure    of    home-life    proved    by 
existence  of,  28. 
Housekeeping — 

attitude  of  Jesus  towards,  68,  69. 
Hymn,     The.       See     Last     Supper, 

The. 
Hymns — 

psalmody  leads  on  to,  39. 

Ideals — 

Jesus,   of,   all   others   summed   up 
in,    169. 
Idleness — 

Sabbath      day,      disapproved      by 
Jesus,  221. 

"  Ifs,"  The  Two— 

as     used     respectively     by     Christ 
and   the   Devil,    125. 
Immortality — 

device  of  Egypt  for  gaining,  61. 
IncTrn-ition.    The — 

fulfilment    of    promises    made    to 
Virgin   Mary   at,    181. 

inevitability    of.    13. 

purifying    mysticism    of,    3. 

Infant    Mortality — 
carelessness  as  chief  cause  of,  53. 


INDEX 


317 


Influences,   Evil — 

vanquished  by  Jesus  in  His  resur- 
rection,   217,    218. 
Iniquity — 

meaning   of    word,    190. 
Injuries — 
non-resistance   of,    by   Jesus,    190- 
192. 
Inn   of   Bethlehem,   The — 

traditions  of,   ancient,   27,   28. 
Inns — 
practice   of   Jesus   and   His   Apos- 
tles with   regard  to,   28. 
Insurance,    Modern — 

foundation    of,    laid    by    socialism 
of   Early   Christian    Church,   97, 
98. 
Intercession — 
spectacular,    distasteful    to    Jesus, 
156. 
Intercession    of    Saints — 
prayers    of    Jesus    unassisted    by, 
238. 
Isaiah    the    Prophet — 
death     of     Christ     predicted     by, 

209. 
message  of,  42,  43. 
"  Is    Life    Worth    Living?  " — 
as  answered  by  Jesus,   243. 
Israel — 

glory  of,  declining,  33. 

Jacob  and   Esau — 

nations  of  future  typified  by,   51. 
Jairus'    Daughter — 

raising  of,   183,  236. 
Jerusalem — 

royal    entry    of    Jesus    into,    243- 

246,   253. 
Jesus — 

accessibility   of,    149. 

accusation   of,   before  Pilate,   283- 

284. 
Apostles    chosen    by,    of    military 

age   and   in   prime   of   life,    199- 

200. 
appearances     of,     after     resurrec- 
tion,   304. 
arraignment      of,      before     Herod 

and    Pilate,    286-290. 
as   both    God   and   Man,    1 79-181. 
asceticism  not  advocated  by,  44. 
as    disciple    of    John    the    Baptist, 

82,    III. 
as    last    and    greatest    of    Judges, 

153. 
attempts    of    agents    provocateurs 

to    entangle,    in    His    talk,    281, 

282. 
attitude  of  Herod  towards,   52. 
audiences     of     John     the     Baptist 

and,    comparison    between,    104. 


Jesus,  continued — 

Barabbas  and,  choice  between, 
289-290. 

Barabbas  and,  comparison  be- 
tween,  289. 

best  in  creation  summed  up  in,  8. 

betrayal    of,    259-262,    273-275. 

blessings  of,  limited  by  faith  of 
recipient,    184,    196. 

Coesarism    or,    96. 

careful  study  of  Old  Testament 
by,    II,    168,    171-172. 

care  of,  for  us,   308. 

Central    Figure   in   all    scenes,    73. 

challenge  of,  by  Jews,  225-227. 

character  as  only  evidence  ad- 
mitted by,    156. 

character-reading  of,  as  condemn- 
ing  fortune-telling,    115. 

claims  to  eternal  life  belittled, 
10. 

consideration  of,  for  His  audi- 
ence,   147,    148. 

contrasted  teachings  of  JTohn  the 
Baptist  and,  concerning  na- 
tional  decay,   85,   86. 

countenance   unportrayed,   2. 

crowning   of,    with    thorns,    286. 

crucifi.xion  afresh  of,  in  modern 
churches   and   chapels,    242. 

dangers  encountered  by,  134, 
233. 

death    as    regarded   by,    233. 

denial   of,   by   Peter,   276-277. 

denunciation  of  miserliness  by, 
97. 

descent  of  Holy  Spirit  on,  in 
form   of    Dove,    113. 

dramatic  conversation  with  Sa- 
maritan  woman,    5. 

earliest    recorded   words   of,    77. 

educational  advantages,  lack  of, 
40. 

education   of,    64,    65,    71. 

eternal  life  in  time  and  space  of, 
9,    10. 

exile  of,    57,   60. 

externals  of  life  recognized  by, 
88. 

fear  of  rulers  lest  body  of, 
stolen  away,   298. 

few  followers  as  compared  with 
many   hearers,    150. 

finding  of,   by   first  disciples,    114. 

first  miracle  performed  by,  20,  21, 
172,    173,    181,    182. 

first    rejection    of,    40. 

foreshadows  His  betrayal,  261. 

foretells    His   own   death,    256. 

forming  of.   in   our   hearts,   30-32. 

forsaken    by    all,    275-276. 

friendship   sanctified   by,   250. 

glory  as  exemplified  by,  235, 
236,    237. 

Godhead  of,  Peter  the  first 
Apostle   to   recognize,    184,    185. 


318 


INDEX 


Jesus,  conlinucd — 

health  and  rule  of  life  of,  67,  68. 
Herod  and,  contrast  between,  285. 
heroism    of,    134. 
hospitality    sanctioned    by,    250. 
humility   and   modesty   of,    2. 
ignored  by  historians  of  Rome,  4. 
influence     of     Egypt     on     thought 

and    life   of,    61. 
influence   of   His  mother,   22. 
influence  of,  upon   history,   52. 
insight   of,    115. 
inspiration        of,        as        affecting 

"  Greater    Things."    196. 
inspiration   of   creative   word,   3. 
invitation    of,    to    weary    laborers, 

186,    187. 
isolation    but    not    asceticism    of, 

44,    68. 
John   the  Baptist  and,   comparison 

between   death   of,    104,    105. 
Joshua   and,    comparison    between, 

243. 
Joshua      and,      identical      names, 

meaning  of,   242. 
labor     exchanges     first    advocated 

by,  99- 
labor  problems  of,  understood  by, 

98,    99-  ,  J.     .  , 

last    appearance    of,    to    disciples, 

308-309. 
last    journey    of,    route    followed, 

241,   243. 
last   nights  of,   spent   at  Bethany, 

248. 
last     three     days     in     Jerusalem, 

record  of,   253,  254. 
last  will  and  testament  of,  its  un- 
usual   form.    234,    235. 
latter  days  of,  233,  234. 
legislation  of,  compared  with   that 

of   Moses,    155. 
life   and    death    of,    symbolism    of 

241,   242. 
life  in  Nazareth,  simplicity  of,  60 
lifting   up   of,   to   die,    significance 

of,    256,    257. 
love    and    care    of,    for    children 

55.    56. 
love  and   consideration   shown  by 

for  Judas,   260-261,   274-275. 
love    for    traditions    of    birthplace 

26. 
loved    and    followed    by    children 

146. 
maltreatment   of.   280,   282. 
manifestation   of.   to   world,   80. 
menial    service,    dignity   of,   recog 

nized   by,   88. 
message    of    John    the    Baptist    re 

peated  and  enriched  by,  83. 
message  of,  unprotected  by  critical 

safeguards,    4. 
Messiahship   of.    unrecognized,    57 
minimum   wages  as  laid  down  by 

98,    99- 


Jesus,  continued — 

miraculous  powers  not  invoked 
by,   to   save    Himself,    197,    198. 

miraculous  powers  sjiaringly  in- 
voked  by.    194. 

mission  contrasted  with  that  of 
John    the    Baptist,    44. 

mission  of.  compared  with  that  of 
John    the    Baptist,    93,    04. 

mistaken  for  Isaiah  or  Jeremiah, 
105. 

misunderstood  by  friends.   237. 

neglect  of,  on  battlefields  and  in 
places   of   amusement,    242. 

neither  statecraft  nor  "  Kultur  " 
connected  with,   30. 

no  leader  of  revolt  against  au- 
thority,   253. 

no  marie  by  which  to  distinguish 
infant.   29. 

not  indifferent  to  popularity, 
148,    149. 

obedience  and  revolt  against,  con- 
trast  between,    217. 

old  things  made  new  by,    166-167. 

one   with    the    Creator,    9. 

only  miracle  of  destruction 
wrought   by,    85. 

outward  success  of  work  as  a 
hindrance    to,    149. 

pain  suffered  by,  through  "  His 
own,"    238. 

parabolic   teaching  of,   83,   84. 

patience  of,  as  a  Teacher,  159, 
160. 

patriotism   of,   for  Judea,   247. 

perfection   of,   in  etiquette,   89. 

perplexities,   only   Resolver  of,   74. 

Person  of,  surrounded  by  Apocry- 
phal  legends,    175,    176. 

popularity  of,  reason  for  waning 
of,    151. 

poverty  of,   40. 

practical  observation  of.  68-70, 
71. 

practical  sympathy  of,  with  man- 
kind,  60. 

practice  of   obedience  by,   78. 

presence  of,  healing  power  as 
affected   bj',    197. 

presentation  of,  in  the  Temple. 
30. 

probable  reception  in  present 
day  of  unreported  words  and 
deeds,    3,   4. 

promise  of,  to  be  with  us  always, 

309-310-  ,      , 

prophecies    concerning    death     of. 

209. 
proselytism   not   attempted   by.   p3- 
psychical     research     as     answered 

by.    106. 
punctuality,    providential,    of,    no. 
rebuked    by    His    mother,    20.    22. 
recipients    of    healing    power    of, 

unrecorded,    199. 


INDEX 


319 


Jesus,  continued — 

recognition   by    multitudes   of   mi- 
raculous   power    of,    181-185. 
rejection  of,  as  a  Man,  213,  214. 
rescue  work  of,   228,  229. 
rite    of    baptism    administered    by 

followers   of,   87. 
rite   of   baptism    submitted   to   by, 

112,    113,    114. 
royal    entry    of,    into    Jerusalem, 

243-246,   253. 
Sabbath  as  regarded  by,  219. 
science  and,   38,   39,    76. 
simple     life     as     exemplified     by, 

96-98. 
sought  by  all  classes,   145,   146. 
spiritual     cleansing     and     refresh; 

ment   offered   by,   to   woman   of 

Samaria,    88. 
State  trial   of,   278-284. 
status    of    mankind    dependent    on 

that   of,    10. 
strenuous  career  of,    144,   145. 
sympathy   of,   252,   296. 
tact  and  courtesy   of,    147. 
teaching   of,    by   questions,    75. 
teachings      of,      with      regard      to 

death,    61,    62,    63. 
teachings     of,      with      regard      to 

money,    98. 
test    of,    with    regard    to    personal 

service,    189,    190. 
treatment    of    widow    as    test    for, 

society,    92. 
universal   incredulity   as   to   rising 

again   of,    298. 
unjust  condemnation  of,  282-284. 
unreported  and  unpublished  words 

of,    ISO. 
war  undenounced  by,   192. 
witnesses    for,    9. 
wonders    of,     never     inspired     by 

bravado,    135,    136. 
words    and    works    of,    impossibil- 
ity  of  severing,    173-175. 
words    of    Scripture    uttered    by, 

from  the   Cross,   296. 
words  of,  winning  power  of,   147. 
worship  set  first  by,   142,   143. 
wrongful    arrest    of,    279-280. 

Jews,   The — 

crucifixion  of  our  Lord  and  its 
effect    on,    290. 

geography  a  symbol  to,  and  other 
ancient   nations,   87. 

God's  part  in  their  lives  realized 
by,   12,    13. 

revelation  of  God   to,   225. 

supreme  choice  by  which  con- 
fronted,   225,    226. 

John  the  Apostle — 
belief  of,   306. 

care  of  Virgin  Mary,  intrusted 
to,  21,  23,  294. 


John    the   Apostle,   continued — 

failure  of,  to  bear  witness  for 
Christ,    281. 

individuality  displayed  by,  at 
sepulcher   of   Jesus,    305-306. 

Oneness  of  Jesus  and  His  Father 
impressed    by,    13,    14. 
John   the   Baptist — 

after  Jesus  most  illustrious  per- 
sonage  of   his   time,    102. 

asceticism    of,    43-45. 

as  foreshadowed  and  visualized  by 
Malachi,   43,   44. 

as    people's    magistrate,    106. 

audiences  of  Jesus  and,  com- 
parison   between,    104. 

avoidance  of  all  revolt  by,  81,  82. 

baptism    instituted    by,    87. 

British  rule  as  illustrating  teach- 
ing of,    108. 

changed  message  of,  after  bap- 
tism of  the   Christ,    114,   115. 

character   of,    103. 

churches,  few,  in  London  dedi- 
cated to,    116. 

compared  with  Whitefield,  George 
Fox,  and  Dwight  L.  Moody, 
46. 

contrasted  teachings  of  Jesus 
and,  concerning  national  de- 
cay, 8s,  86. 

denouncement  of  governing 
classes   by,   90,   91. 

disciples  of,  as  followers  of  Jesus, 
115,    116. 

doctrine  of  atonement,  manner 
in    which    received    by,    112. 

effect  of  name   upon,   46. 

fearless  message  of,  concerning 
patriotism,    84,    85. 

Jesus  and,  comparison  between 
death    of,    104,    105. 

Jesus  as   disciple   of,    iir. 

Jordan  preferred  to  Temple  by, 
47. 

message  of,  repeated  and  enriched 
by   Jesus,    83. 

mission  of,  contrasted  with  that 
of  Jesus,   44,   93,   94. 

mistaken    for    Elijah,    105. 

modern  application  of  teaching 
of,    108. 

naming  of,   45. 

no  miracles  performed  by,    172. 

panegyric  pronounced  upon,  by 
Jesus,    102. 

parentage   of,   44,   45. 

pathos    of    his    career,    103. 

Paul  and,  comparison  between, 
103. 

prophecies  concerning  Jesus,  im- 
portance of,  42. 

prophecies  concerning  the  advent 
of,  42-43. 

prophetic  warnings  of,   84,  85. 

prophets,  last  of  the,  39. 


320 


INDEX 


John   the   Baptist,   continued— 

realization   by,   of   the   Divinity   of 

the     expected     Kedecmer,      103, 

104. 
repentance    preached    by,    as    pass- 
port to   Kingdom   of   God,   84. 
rite    of    baptism    administered    by 

disciples    of,    87. 
rules  laid  down   by,   for   publicans 

and    soldiers,    107. 
socialism    summed    up   by,   95,    96. 
spiritual     and     intellectual     liberty 

advocated    by,    46. 
where   he    failed,    44. 
Jonah    and   the   Whale — 

burial    of    Jesus    typified    by,    77, 

177. 
Jordan — 

name,  meaning  of,   87. 
Jordan,    River — 

baptism    of    Jesus    in,    symbolical 

of    death,    113,    114. 
institution    of    baptism    at,    87. 
Joseph    of   Arimathea — 

personal    ministry   of,    301-302. 
representative  character  of,  301. 
request   of,    30:. 

tomb   of    Jesus   provided    by,    302. 
views  of,   concerning  Jesus,   301. 

Joshua — 

as  saviour  by  conquest  and  states- 
manship,  242. 
Jesus    and,    comparison    between, 

243- 
Jesus  and,  identical  names,  mean- 
ing of,  242. 

Judaism — 

permanence     of,     mysterious,     49, 
SI. 
Judas  Iscariot — 

bargain     of,     with     chief     priests, 

239,   259. 
betrayal     of     Jesus     by,     259-263, 

273-275- 
character   of,    238,    239. 
love    and    consideration    of    Jesus 

for,    260-261,    274-275. 
seen    and    unseen    as    influencing, 

239,    240. 
treachery   of,   261,   274-275. 

Judges — 

Jesus  last  and  greatest  of,  153. 


Keble,  John — 

as   verse   writer,    31. 
"  Kingdom    of   God,   The  " — 

difference       between       expressions 
"  Kingdom     of     Heaven "     and, 
83,   84. 
Kingdom    of    Heaven,    The — 

comparison      between      modern 
churches    and,    203. 


Kingdom     of     Heaven,     The,     con- 
tinued— 
difference      between       expressions 
"  Kingdom  of  God  "  and,  83,  84. 
Knowledge,    Modern — 

need  of   reverence  added   to,   216. 
"  Kultur  "^ 

neither    statecraft    nor,    connected 
with  Jesus,   30. 

Labor — 

dignity    of,    29. 

problems  of,  understood  by  Jesus, 
98,  99. 
Laborers    in    the    Vineyard,    Parable 
of   the — 
teaching  conveyed  by,  98,  99, 
Labor    Exchanges — 

first   advocated    by,    99. 
Lamb,   The — 

symbolism    of,    7. 
Lame   Man,    The — 

miracle  of  Christ  concerning,   196. 
Lamp — 

as   a   symbol    of    religion,   208. 
"  Land    of    Promise,    The  " — 

subjection   to   foreigners  of,   81. 
Language,   Human — 

unique    force    put    into,    by    Jesus, 
90. 
Last  Supper,   The — 
as      depicted      by      Leonardo      da 

Vinci,    265. 
as    prepared    by    the    disciples    of 

Jesus,    195,    263,    264. 
final    converse    of   Jesus    with    the 

eleven,   268-269. 
hallowing     of     the     elements     by 

Jesus   at,    265-266. 
singing   of   hymn   at,    268. 
universal      rather      than      ecclesi- 
astical  nature   of,   265. 
upper  room  and  its  surroundings, 

264,   265. 
water  of  cleansing,  symbolism  of, 
266-268. 
Last   Will   and   Testament- 
Jesus,   of,    its   unusual    form,    234, 
23s. 
Law — 
old     and     new,     enforcement     of, 
comparison    between,    156. 
Law,   Jewish — 
obligations   to,    fulfilled   by  Jesus, 
•SO. 
Law.  Mosaic — 

rules   laid  down  by,    155. 

Laws — 

as     upheld      and     vindicated     by 

Tesus,    279. 
contrast    between    those    of    Rome 

and   Jewry,   278,    279- 


INDEX 


321 


Layman — 

Jesus    as   the   divine,    82. 
Lazarus,    Death    of — 
comparison     between     conduct     of 
Martha    and    Mary    on    occasion 
of,    251,    252. 
humility   of,   253. 
raising  of,   182. 
Leadership- 
definition    of, 
Legends,  Apocryphal — 

person      of      our      Saviour      sur- 
rounded  by,    17s,    176. 
Legislation — 

Christ,     of,     compared    with     that 
of  Moses,   155. 
Letters — 

none   written    by   Jesus,   65. 
Liberty — 
as     represented     by     Canaan,     59, 

61. 
spiritual     and     intellectual,     advo- 
cacy   by    John    the    Baptist    of, 
46. 
Life- 
death    and,    of    Christ,    symbolism 
of,   241,   242, 
Life-boats — 

origin    of,    due    to    inspiration    of 
Christ,    196. 
Life,  Home-life — 

chosen    by    Jesus    and    His    Apos- 
tles    in     preference     to     inns, 
28. 
Life,   Home — 

Christ   and,    229. 
Life,   Modern — 

personal   success,   snare  of,  as   af- 
fecting,   205. 

Life,   Present — 

choice     to     be     made     by     us     in, 
231. 

Light- 
approval    of   Jesus   for   works   of, 
209,    210. 

Lion,   The — 

symbolism   of,   6,    7. 

LiteraUjre — 

skepticism  with  regard  to  modern 
research    in,    5. 

Litigation — 

teaching    of    Jesus    as    affecting, 
187. 
Louises — 

presence    of    Christ    in    its    effect 
on,    196,    197. 

Love — 

God,  of,  as  shown  by  Jesus,  188, 
189. 


Luke  the   Evangelist — 

chronological  information  included 
in   Gospel,  reason   for,   25. 
Luxury — 

parable  of  Rich  Man  and  Lazarus 
as   illustrative   of,    loo-ioi. 

Magistrate — 

John    the    Baptist    as,    106. 
Magna   Charta — 

one   unalterable,  the,   138,    139. 
Majority — 

rule  of,  as  instanced  by  arrest  of 
Christ,    273. 
Malachi — 

prophecy   of,   43. 
Manger  of  Bethlehem,  The — 

modernization     of,     to     suit     each 
land,   29. 

Mankind — 

acceptance  of  evil  by,  rather  than 

of  good,  226,  227. 
status      dependent     on      that      of 

Christ,    10. 
Mariolatry — 

evidence   against,    294. 
no  precedent  for,  22-24. 
Marriage   at   Cana — 

first    miracle    performed    by    Jesus 

at,    172,    173,    181,    182,    229. 
no    pre-meditation    in    working    of 

miracle   at,    181,    182. 
Marriage  Feast,  Parable  of  the — 

teaching   conveyed    by,    207,    208. 
Martha    of    Bethany — 

service,   ideal,  of,   250. 
Mary    of    Bethany — 

part    chosen    by,    250,    251. 
Mary  of   Magdala — 

appearance  of   Christ  to,  306. 
grief  of,   306. 
Mary,  The   Virgin — 
as  a  poetess,    18. 
as    represented    by     Raphael,    23, 

24. 
birth     and    death     of,     silence    of 

Scripture  as  to,    17. 

care    of,    intrusted   to   John    the 

Apostle,    294. 
Christ   and,    20,    21,    22. 
compared   with   Elizabeth   of   Hun- 
gary and   Joan   of  Arc,    18. 
earliest    recorded    words    of    Jesus 

treasured   by,   77. 
her  rebuke  to  the  Boy  Jesus,  20. 
John  charged  with  care  of,  21,  23. 
Magdalene     chosen     by,     as     her 

companion   at   Cross,   21,   22. 
name,   meaning  of,   23. 
no   honor   claimed    for   herself  by, 

22,    23. 
normal  temperament  of,   18. 


322 


INDEX 


Mary,  The  Virgin,  continued — 
not    mentioned    by    John    in    Rev- 
elation.   23. 
prescribed    offering    for    sin    made 

by.    111. 
reception    of    Angel    Gabriel    by, 

18,    19,    20. 
royal  ancestry  only  hinted  at,   17. 
signs  granted  to,   36,   37. 
tendency       to       attribute       Divine 

honors  to,   23,   24. 
vindicator    of    her   sex,    17. 
visit   to   Klizabeth,   20. 
word   picture   of,    17,    18. 
Massacre  of  the  Innocents,  The,  53. 

family  feud   as  affecting,   48. 
Megalomania — 

as  summed  up  by  Jesus,  61. 

Messiah,   The — 

champions  of,    11. 

Jesus   unrecognized   as,    57. 

Jewish  maidens'  prayer  with  re- 
gard to,   10. 

majesty  of,  assailed  by  modern 
scholarship,    170. 

promise  of,    10. 
Military      Service.        See      Service, 

Military. 
Ministry   of   Christ — 

uninterrupted    by    military    opera- 
tions,  37. 
Miracles — 

ancient,  .imprimatur  of  Jesus 
placed   upon,    170. 

as  a  reward  of   faith,    136. 

as   locating   words   of   Jesus,    T73. 

as  revelation  of  Divine  Love,  177. 

belief   in,    reasons    for,    170-177. 

belief  or  disbelief  in,  as  con- 
tended by  modern  criticism, 
170. 

inevitability  of,   181. 

Jesus,  of,  comprehensive  nature 
of,   194.   195- 

Jesus,  of,  limited  number  of 
specially    recorded.    194. 

meeting  of  Jesus  with  two  great- 
est  workers   of,    172,    176. 

none  used  by  Jesus  to  save  Him- 
self,   197.    198. 

performance  of,  on  Sabbath  day, 
offense  caused  to  Jews  by,  220. 

power  given  by  Jesus  to  His 
disciples    for    working    of,    172, 

'73- 

recognition  by  multitudes  of 
power  of  Jesus  in  performing 
181-185. 

Withering  of  Fig-tree,  lesson  con- 
veyed  by,   85. 

words  of  Jesus  as  located  by,  173. 

Miracles.        See     separate      entries: 

Marriage    at    Cana;    Bartim.Tu':, 

Blind,    Healing   of;    Nobleman's 


Son,  Healing  of;  Widow's  Son 
at  Nain,  Raising  of;  Jairus' 
Daughter,  Raising  of;  Lazarus, 
Raising  of;  Centurion's  Serv- 
ant, Healing  of;  Syro-Phoeni- 
cian  Woman,  Healing  of; 
Withering  of  Fig-tree;  Swine, 
the  Herd  of;  Lame  Man. 
Miriam.  See  Mary,  The  Virgin. 
Miserliness — 

denunciation    of,     by     Jesus,     99, 
100. 
Modernization — 

manger  of  Bethlehem  modernized 
to   suit  each   land,   29. 
Monasticism — 

as  opposed  to  home-life,   249. 
Moody,   Dwight   L. — 

comparison      between      John      the 
Baptist  and,  46. 
Morality — 

standard    of   Jesus   in    matters 
concerning,  229. 
Mosaic    Ritual — 

modern  idea  of,   255. 
Moses — 

Elijah    and,    greatest    workers    of 

miracles,    172. 
legislation  of,  compared  with  that 
of   Christ,    155. 
Mothers,   Jewish — 

their  belief   in   sacredness  of  •hil- 
dren,    10,    11. 
Mountains — 

important  events  in  life  of  Christ 
connected  with,    154. 
Mountains  of  Scripture,  The — 
significance  of,   153,   154. 

Naaman — 

healing   of,   faith   instrumental   in, 
88. 
Nathaniel — 

immortal    words    uttered    by,    115. 

National  Decay — 

contrasted  teachings  of  Jesus  and 
John     the     Baptist     concerning, 
"8s,    86. 
Nations  of  Future — 

Jacob    and     Esau     as    types     of, 
51- 
Nativity   of   Christ — 

changes  wrought  by,   31. 

date    of,    difference    in    East    and 
West   between,    25. 

mankind  concerned   in.   30. 

most   widely   honored   festival,   26. 

no   memorial    raised   to   commemo- 
rate  place   of,   36. 

unmarked    by    clocks    and    calen- 
dars,   25. 


INDEX 


323 


Nature — 

God  as  taught  in,  296. 

inanimate    love   of    Jesus    for,    70. 

Language  in  which  God  expresses 
Himself,    13. 
Nature,    Laws   of — 

consideration    of  Jesus    for,    197. 

Nazareth — 

return  of  Holy   Family  to,  60. 

simple  life  of  Jesus   in,   60. 
Nehemiah — 

home-rule  as  established  by  Ezra 
and,  81. 

Nicodemus — 

cowardice     and     opportunism     of, 
overcome    by    Jesus,    210,    211. 
Nobleman's    Son,    The — 

healing   of,   the,    182. 

Obedience — 

practice   by   Jesus   of,   78. 
Old   Testament— 

an   unerring  mirror,    166. 

careful    study    of,    by    Jesus,    11, 

168,   171-172. 
prophecies     relating     to     life     of 
Christ    in,     11,     12.       See    also 
Psalms,    Prophets, 
Orphanages — 

origin    of,    due    to    inspiration    of 
Christ,   196. 
Outdoor   Life — 

love   of  Jesus   for,   70. 
Overtime — 

unemployment  and,  as  illustrated 
by  parable  of  Laborers  in 
Vineyard,   99. 

Pain- 
as  a  symbol  of  guilt,   199. 
death     and,     Christ's     method     of 

dealing  with,    194,    195-197. 
refusal    by    Jesus    of    anaesthetics 

for  easement  of,  292. 
suffered    by    Jesus    through    "  His 

own,"    238. 

"  Panem    and    Circenses  " — 

kingship  as  based  upon,  151. 
Papal  infallibility — 

guidance     of     Holy     Spirit     con- 
trasted  with,    163. 
Parables — 

commentaries  and  text-books  com- 
pared with,   159. 
teaching  of  Jesus  by,   reason  for, 

159- 
usefulness  of,  in  teaching,  83. 

Parables.  5"^^  separate  entries:  Sa- 
maritan, Parable  of  the  Good; 
Simon  the  Pharisee;  Pharisee 
and    Publican;    Laborers    in    the 


Vineyard;    Rich    Man    and    Laz- 
arus;   Sower;    Marriage    Feast; 
Wicked   Servant. 
Pardon — 

Divine   prerogative   of   Jesus   with 
regard  to,   219. 
Passover,    The — 

ceremonial  records  of,  in  relation 
to   salvation,   255. 

eternal   nature   of,    255. 

Lord's  Supper,  or  Holy  Commun- 
ion  as   outcome  of,   255. 

new  beginnings  marked  by  Feast 
of,    255,    256. 

symbolical   teaching   of,    257,    258. 
Past- 
future  and,   sacred   claim   of,   rec- 
ognized by  Jesus,   74,   146. 

Patriotism — 

fearless  message  of  John  the  Bap- 
tist concerning,   84,   85. 
Jesus,   of,   for  Judea,   247. 

Paul  the  Apostle — 

atonement,  doctrine  of,  manner 
in   which  received  by,    112. 

educational  advantages  of,  com- 
pared with  those  of  Christ, 
40. 

equipment   of,    modest,    97. 

John  the  Baptist  and,  comparison 
between,    103. 

missionary   tours  mapped   out   by, 
57- 
Payment — 

standard   rate   of,   attempt   in    Old 
Testament  times  to  establish,  98. 
Peace — 

qualities  upon  which  depend 
Princedom   of,  43. 

time  of,  throughout  Christ's  min- 
istry,   37. 

war  and,  rules  laid  down  by  John 
the   Baptist   for,    107. 
"  Perfect   City,"   The — 

conception   of,    28. 

Peter   the  Apostle — 

atonement,     doctrine    of,     manner 

in    which    received    by,    112. 
denial   of  Jesus   by,   276-277. 
failure    of,    to    bear    witness    for 

Christ,   281. 
Godhead  of  Jesus  recognized  first 

by,    184,    185. 
impulsive  protest  of,  at  ceremony 

of    washing    of    feet    by    Jesus, 

267,    268. 
individuality      displayed      by,      at 

sepulcher   of   Jesus,    303-306. 
return   to   Christ,   277. 

Pharisee   and   the   Publican,   Parable 
of  the — 
teaching   conveyed   in,    90,    91. 


324 


INDEX 


Pilate,    Pontius — 

accusation    of    Jesus    before,    283- 

284. 
cynicism  of,   287. 

Herod    and,    Jesus    arraigned    be- 
fore,  286-290. 
terror    of,    in    presence    of    Jesus, 

289. 
warning  conveyed   in  a   dream   to 
wife  of,   282, 
Popularity — 

Jesus  not  indifferent  to,  148,  149. 
Jesus,  of,  reason  for  wane  of,  151. 
Portrait,  The  Fourfold,   6. 
Portraiture — 

plague  of,  as  affecting  teaching  of 
Jesus,    162. 
Poverty — 

Jesus,   of,   40. 
Power,   Temporal — 
test  of,  56. 

Prayer — 

effective    conditions    needful    for, 
203-204. 

help     and     guidance     sought     by 
Jesus  in,  34. 

Jesus  conquers  by,  in  Garden  of 
Gethsemane,   272,   273. 

personal  nature  of,   271,   272. 

teaching  of,  by  Jesus  to  His  dis- 
ciples,   116. 

warnings    of    Christ    with    regard 
to,    272. 
Precedence — 

dispute    as    to,    by    the    Apostle, 
204,    205. 
Preferment — 

political    and    ecclesiastical,   as   af- 
fecting service,  206,   207. 
Pre-Raphaelites — 

views  on  nature  and  art  held  by, 
13- 
Present,   The — 

value  set  by  Jesus  upon,    147. 

Press  Censorship — 

effect    of,    on    teaching    of    Jesus, 
162. 

Priests — 
rabbis    and,    distinction    between. 

46. 
rabbis  and,  teaching  of,  47,  48. 

Primogeniture — 

rules  of.  fulfilled  by  Christ,  50. 

"  Prince   of   Peace  " — 

wars  in   relation  to  death  of,   37. 

Problem.   The   Modern — 
antiquity  of,   158. 

Prophecies — 

fulfilment  of,  relating  to  death  of 
Jesus,   295. 


Prophecies,   continued — 

Messianic    and    other    hopes    fore- 
shadowed    in,      10.       See     also 
Psalms. 
Prophets,    The— 

Anna    the    Widow,     the    Messiah 

proclaimed   by,   40. 
Christ   and,    11,    12. 
death   of    Christ    foretold   by,    209. 
Hosea  and  his  message,   59. 
Isaiah  and  his  message.  42,  43. 
John  the  Baptist  and  his  message, 

42. 
last   of,   39. 

Malachi   and   his   message,   43. 
prophecies     relating     to     life     of 
Christ    in,     11,     12.       See    also 
Psalms,    Old   Testament. 
Simeon    and    his    prophetic    utter- 
ance,  39. 
Proselytism — 

Jesus  no   follower  of,  93. 
Prudence — 

tact  and,  of  Jesus,  212-214. 
Prussianism — 

spirit    of,    as    foreseen    by    Jesus, 
205,   206. 
Psalmists — 

Simeon  last  of  the,   39. 
Psalmody — 

hymns  of  Christian  Church  follow 
on    from,    39. 
Psalms.    The— 

Messianic  and  other  hopes  fore- 
shadowed in,  10.  See  also 
Prophecies, 
prophecies  relating  to  life  of 
Christ  in,  11,  12.  See  also 
Prophets,    Old   Testament. 

Psychical    Research — 
Jesus     Himself     the     answer     to, 
106. 
Publicans — 

soldiers    and.   rules   laid   down   by 
John  the  Baptist   for,   107,   108. 

Punctuality — 

Jesus  as  an  example  of  providen- 
tial,   no. 

Punishment,    Eternal — 

as   emphasized   by   Jesus,    231-232. 

Rabbis — 

first    conversation    of    Jesus    with, 

unrecorded,   77. 
priests    and,    distinction    between, 

46. 
priests  and,   teaching  of,   47,   48. 

Race — 

theories   of,    56. 
Racecourse,   The — 

effect    of,    on    teaching    of    Jesus, 
162. 


INDEX 


325 


Raphael — 

Virgin    Mary    as    represented    by, 
23,    24- 
Red  Cross — 

as  instituted   by  Jesus,   275. 
Reformation — 

attitude    of    Christ's    witnesses    to 
authority    as    shown    by    annals 
of,   245. 
Reealia — 

Jesus,    of,    as    symbolized   by   hys- 
sop and  reed,  292,  293. 
Relic-worship — 

Catholic   Church   and,   62. 
efficacy    of,    destroyed    by    Jesus, 

61.    62. 
evidence   against,   295. 
Religion — 
Jesus,  of,  its  lofty  standard,   187, 

188. 
Jesus,  of,  not  legerdemain,   195. 
lamp  as  symbol   of,   208. 
Religious,    The — 

rebuked  by  our  Lord,  92-94. 
Remembrance,     sacrament     of,     266, 

271. 
Repentance— 

as   passport   to   Kingdom   of   God, 
84. 
Rescue  Work — 

Jesus,   of,   228,   229. 
Resurrection,    The,    303-310. 

as   opposed   to   doctrine   of   Trans- 
migration of  Souls,    IDS,    106. 
evil      influences      vanquished      by 

Jesus  in,   217,   218. 
manner  of,   303. 
Revealer    of    God,    The — 

Christ  as,   12-14. 
Revolution — 

avoidance    of,    by    John    the    Bap- 
tist,  82. 
Rich   Man  and  Lazarus,   Parable  of 
the — 
teaching  conveyed  by,   loo-ioi. 
Ritual- 
supplanted    by    reading    of    Bible, 
46. 
Rivers,   Sacred — 

uselessness   of,    without   faith,    88. 
Roman   Empire — 

corruption    and    cruelty    at    base 

of,    107. 
decline  of,   33,   80,  81. 
Ruskin,  John — 

views  on  nature  and  art  held  by, 
13- 

Sabbath.   The— 
idleness  on,  disapproved  by  Jesus, 
221. 


Sabbath,   The,   continued — 

Jesus  as  Lord   of,   221-222. 

Jewish,  disappearance  of,  with 
death   of  Christ,   221,   222. 

miracles  performed  on,  as  cause 
of  offense  to  the  Jews,  220. 

necessity  of,  for  welfare  of  man, 
219. 

principle  of,  as  distinguished 
from  burdensome  Jewish  scru- 
ples  concerning,    220,    221. 

rules  for,  as  laid  down  by  Jesus, 

2ig-222. 

Sacerdotal    Succession — 

parents    of    John    the    Baptist    as 
type  of,  44. 
Sacrifice — 

conquest   by,   as   taught   by   Beati- 
tudes,   187. 
Salvation — 

ceremonial     records     of     Passover 

in   relation   to,    255. 
deprecation      of      self-torture      of 
body   as  a  means   of,    134,    135. 
Samaritan,  Parable  of  the  Good — 
condemnation  contained  in,  28. 
Sanhedrin,   The — 

authority  of  Jesus  questioned  by, 

245- 
Christ    condemned    to    death    by, 

258,    259. 
displeasure  of,   at  raising  of  Laz- 
arus,  253. 
Saviour,    The — 
Escutcheon   of,   6. 
mission   of,    15. 
Savonarola — 

sensationalism  the  ruin  of,  135. 
"  Sayings   Hard  " — 
difficulty   of,    161. 
Schefller,   Johann — 

physician  and   philosopher,   30. 
Scholarship,    Modern — 
Majesty    of    Messiah    assailed    by, 
170. 

Science — 

Jesus  and,   38,   39,  76. 

Scriptures,    The — 

Christ   and,    140,    141. 

insidious     quoting    by    the     Devil 

of,    139,    140. 
words   of,    uttered  by   Jesus    from 

the  Cross,  296. 

Seances — 

no  need  by  Jesus  of,  210. 

Self-Torture— 
consecration    of    body    as    opposed 
to   its,    134,    135. 

Sensationalism — 
arts  of,   as  summed   up   in   words 
"cast   thyself   down,"    135. 


326 


INDEX 


Sensationalism,    continued — 

arts    of,    ruin    of    Savonarola    due 
to,    US- 
Sermon  on  the  Mount — 

accounts  of,   variation    in,   4. 
"  Code    Napoleon  "    and,    compari- 
son   between,    152. 
commands    of    Moses    and,    com- 
parison   between,    152. 
misnaming     and     consequent     mis- 
understanding of,    152. 
Old    Testament    teaching    as    bear- 
ing on,    167. 
scope  of,    IS4.   155- 
Service — 
as    safeguard    against    temptation, 

119. 
grandeur  and  dignity  of,  206,  207. 
ideal,  of  Martha  of  Bethany,  250. 
political    and    ecclesiastical    prefer- 
ment as  affecting,  206,  207. 
Service,    Menial — 

dignity    of,    recognized    by    Jesus, 
88. 
Service,   Military — 

Caesarism  and,  27. 
Service,    Personal — 

followers   of   Christ  and   their  ob- 
ligation   with     regard     to,     189, 
190. 
Seven — 

perfect    and    sacred    number,    293. 
Shakespeare,    William — 
as  gift  from  God  to  human  race, 
30. 
Shepherds  of  Bethlehem,  The— 
message   of   angels   to,   34. 
sign    by    which    Christ    to   be    rec- 
ognized,  36. 
Signs — 

granted    to    shepherds    of    Bethle- 
hem, 36. 
granted   to   Virgin   Mary,   37. 
Simeon — 

prophecy  of,  39. 
psalmists,    last   of   the,    39. 
Simon    of   Cyrene — 

privileged   service   of,   in   carrying 
Cross   of   Jesus,   290-291. 
Simon    ihe     Pharisee,     Parable     of 
the — 
teaching  conveyed  by,  88,  89. 
Simple   Life,   The— 

all  evil  to  be  cured  by,  87,  88. 
example  of  Jesus  with  regard   to, 
96-98. 
Sin — 

disease    as    symbol    of,    199. 
payment   of   penalty    for,   accepted 
by  Jesus,    219. 
Slander — 

Jesus  assailed  by,  227,  228,  229. 


Social    Inequalities — 

parable  of  Rich  Man  and  Lazarus 
as  illustrative  of,   loo-ioi. 
Socialism — 

disarmament      and,      essential      to 

well-doing,    146. 
practice    of,    by    Early    Christian 

Church,   97. 
practice  of,  by  Jesus  and  His  fol- 
lowers,  96,    97. 
summed   up  by   John   the   Baptist, 
95.    96. 
Society — 

treatment    of    widow    as    test    of 
Jesus   for,   92. 
Soldiers — 

publicans  and,  rules  laid  down  by 
John  the  Baptist   for,    107,    108. 
Soul — 

body  and.   Spirit  of  Christ   ruling 
over,    199. 
Spirit  of  God,  The — 
■  resistance  against,  everlasting  con- 
sequences of,  232. 
State   Trial- 
Jesus,   of,   278-284. 
Stimulants — 

none  required  by  Jesus,    129. 

Stone,  Rolling  away  of  the,  302-303. 
Success — 

failure  or,  faithful  following  of 
Christ  under,   245,   246. 

outward,   Jesus   hindered   by,    149. 

test  as  applied  by  Christ  to,  235. 
Success,    Personal — 

sense  of,  205-207, 

Suffering — 
actuality    of,    realized    by    Jesus, 
198. 

Suicide — 
Judas    Iscariot    only    case    of,    in 
Gospels,    243. 

Sunday    garments — 

holiness    as    expressed    by,    89-90. 

Swearing — 

teaching  of  Jesus  concerning,  188. 

Swine,   The   Herd   of — 

as  typifying  illicit  wealth,  242. 

Symbolism,  6,  7,  38,  77,  86,  87,  113, 
114,  177,  184,  199,  208,  242, 
244,  24s,  257,  258,  266-268, 
283,    290,    292,    293,    305. 

Sympathy — 
Jesus,    of,    252. 

Synagogue,  The — 
displacement  of  Temple  by,  45-47. 

Syro-Phoenician    Woman — 
healing  of,   184. 


INDEX 


327 


Tact— 

courtesy   and,   of  Jesus,    147. 
prudence  and,  of  Jesus,  212,  214. 
Tares — 

wheat   and,   advice   of   Jesus   with 
regard   to,    162. 
Temple,  The — 

as  symbolical   of   Body   of   Christ, 

28.1. 
new,    raising   up   of,    as    promised 

and   fulfilled   by   Jesus,   228. 
presentation  of  Jesus  in,  39. 
sacrifices    of,    replaced    by    baptis- 
mal   regeneration,    87. 
significance  and  functions  of,   46, 

47. 
synagogue  displaces,   45-47. 
temples  of  Egypt  compared  with, 

S8. 
used   by   Christ,  47. 
Temple,   Pinnacle  of  the — 

Jesus     upon,      unapproachableness 
of,    131-132,    134. 
Temptation — 

needless,     necessity     of     avoiding, 

260. 
service    as    a    safeguard    agairist, 
119. 
Temptation  of  Christ  in  the  Wilder- 
ness— 
how  met  by  Him,  121-122. 
modern   aspect   of,    124,    125,    128. 
narrative  of,  autobiographical,  137, 

1.^8. 
teaching     to     be     gathered     from, 
ii8-i  19. 
Testament — 

test  of  truth  applied  by  Jesus  to, 
169. 
Testament,    New — 

paraphrases    and    summaries    from 
Old  Testament  found  in,   140. 
Testament,   Old — 

careful    study    of,    by    Jesus,    11, 

168,   171-172. 
message  of,  as  preached  by  Jesus, 

164-166,    168. 
prophecies     relating     to     life     of 

Christ  in,    11,    12. 
study     of,     by     Early     Christians, 
168. 
Theophilus,   The   Excellent — 

satisfaction      of,      considered      by 
Luke,   25. 
Thief.   The   Penitent- 
confession  of  Christ  by,   296. 
Third   Day.   The— 

"  mysterious  and  deliberate  splen- 
dor "    surrounding,    77. 
"Thirteen" — 

superstition      regarding      number, 
262. 


Thomas   the   Apostle — 

confession  of,  307. 
Three,    The    Number — 

repeated    occurrence    of,    77,    199, 
223.  236,  237,  271,  272,  277,  294. 
Thrift- 
teaching  of  Jesus  with   regard  to, 
99,    100. 
Title-deeds — 

eternal   life,    to,   97. 
Traditional  Sayings  of  Christ,  90. 
Transmigration   of   Souls — 

resurrection    as    opposed    to    doc- 
trine,   of,    105,    106. 
Trinities,  The  Two — 

one  of  good  and  one  of  evil,   127, 
128. 
Trinity,    The— 

texts  denoting,    124,    125. 
Tyranny — 

as  represented  by   Egypt,   59,   61. 

Unemployment — 

overtime    and,    as    illustrated    by 
parable    of    Laborers    in    Vine- 
yard,  99. 
Unitarianism — 

resistance  of,  by  Jesus,   125. 
Upper   Room,   The.     See  Last  Sup- 
per, The. 

Vine.   The— 

characteristics   and    symbolism   of, 
86. 
Viper.   The — 

peculiar   quality   of,   go,   91. 

Wages,   Minimum — 

as  laid  down  by  Jesus,  98,  gg. 
War- 
peace    and,    rules    laid    down    by 
John   the   Baptist   for,    107. 

personal   success,   snare  of,   as  af- 
fecting. 205. 

rivalry    between     nations     leading 
to.  foreseen  by  Jesus,  205,  206. 

undenounced  by  Jesus,    192. 
War.   The— 

foretold   by  Jesus,    169. 

influence  of,  as  affecting  belief  in 
personality  of  devil,   120. 
Warnings — 

dreams  as,    14,   34,   60,   282. 
Warnings,    Prophetic — 

Tesus,   of,    2';9. 

John  the  Baptist,  of,  84,  85. 
Wars — 

as   foretold  by  Jesus,    259. 

constancy  of,  reason  for,  76. 


328 


INDEX 


Wars,      continued — 

death    of    "  Trince   of   Peace "    in 
relation   to,   37. 
Watch,  The— 
tomb  of  Jesus  sealed  and  guarded 
by.  2gg-3oi. 
Water     of     Cleansing,     The.       See 

Last    Supper,    The. 
Wesley,    Charles — 

as  hymn   writer,    31. 
West- 
East     and,     comparison     between, 
i.s6,   257. 
Wheat — 
tares    and,    advice    of    Jesus    with 
regard   to,    162. 
Whitefield— 

comparison  between  John  the  Bap- 
tist  andj   46. 
Wicked    Servant,    Parable    of    the — 

teaching  conveyed  in,  218,  219. 
Widow's  Son   at  Nain — 

raising  of,    183,    196. 
Williams,    Isaac — 

as   verse   writer,   30,   31. 
Wire-pulling — 

corruption  and,   142. 
Wise   Men,   The — 

symbolic  gifts  presented  by,  38. 
Withering   of    Fig-tree — 
lesson   taught  by,   247. 
Witnesses — 

suborned,   part   taken   by,   in   trial 
of  Jesus,   281,   282. 
Woman   of   Samaria,    The — 

dramatic    conversation    of     Christ 

with,   s. 
spiritual     cleansing     and     refresh- 
ment offered  by  Jesus  to,  88. 
Women — 

value  of  Jesus  by,  reason  for,  71. 
Women,   The   Holy — 
anxiety  of,  with   regard  to  stone, 
302,  303. 


Women,    The   Holy,    continued — 
as   watchers    at    Cross    and    Tomb 

of  Jesus,   300,   301. 
Humanity  and   Deity  of  Christ  as 

symbolized  by,  305. 
individuality    and    amazement    dis- 
played    by,     at     Sepulcher     of 
Jesus,  305. 
preparation   of   spices  by,   302. 
Word- 
work    and,    close    alliance    of,    in 
career   of  Jesus,    154. 
Words- 
works    and,    of    Jesus,    impossibil- 
ity of  severance,   154,   173-175. 
Work- 
association    with    others   in,    advo- 
cated by  Jesus,   119,   120. 
Works — 

words  and,  of  Jesus,  impossibility 
of  severance,   173-175. 
Workmen — 
judgment  of   Christ  respected  by, 
71. 
World,   Laws   of — 
consideration    of    Jesus    for,    194, 
195- 
Worship — 

dreams  as,   34. 
set  first  by  Jesus,    142,   143. 
spices   in   tomb   of   Jesus   as   lead- 
ing    up     to     lavish     forms     of, 
303- 

Worship   of    God — 

teaching   of   Priests   and    Rabbis — 
as     to,     compared     with     that     of 

Moses    and    the    Prophets,    47, 

48. 

Wrath- 
God  of,  as  shown  by  Jesus,   188, 
i8g. 

Zacharias — 

reception    of    Angel    Gabriel    by, 
44.  45- 


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face  the  problem  of  the  present-day  unsettlement  and  unrest 
in  religious  beliefs  with  sanity  and  courage,  furnishing  in  this, 
as  in  other  aspects  of  his  enquiry,  a  new  viewpoint  and  clari- 
fied outlook. 

S.  D.  GORDON 

Quiet  Talks  on  John's  Gospel 

As  Presented  in  the  Gospel  of  John.  Cloth,  net  85c. 

Mr.  Gordon  halts  his  reader  here  and  there,  at  some  pre- 
cious text,  some  outstanding  instance  of  God's  tenderness, 
much  as  a  traveller  lingers  for  refreshment  at  a  wayside 
spring,  and  bids  us  hearken  as  God's  wooing  note  is  heard 
pleading  for  consecrated  service.  An  enheartening  book,  and 
a  restful.  A  book  of  the  winning  Voice,  of  outstretched 
Hands. 

ROBERT  F.    HORTON,   P.P. 

The  Springs  of  Joy  and  Other  Addresses 

i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.00. 

"Scholarly,  reverent,  penetrating,  human.  The  product  of 
a  mature  mind  and  of  a  genuine  and  sustained  religious  ex- 

£erience.      The   message  of  a  thinker  and   a  .saint,  which   will 
E   found  to  be  very  helpful." — Christian  Intelligencer. 

BISHOP  WALTER   R.    lAMBUTH 

Winning  the  World  for  Chri^ 

A  Study  of  Dynamics.  Cole  Lectures  for  1915. 
l2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.25. 

ITiis  Lecture-Course  is  a  spirited  contribution  to  the  dy- 
namics of  Missions.  It  presents  a  study  of  the  sources  of  in- 
spiration and  power  in  the  lives  of  missionaries,  native  and 
foreign,  who  with  supreme  abandon  gave  themselves  utterly 
to  the  work  to  which  they  were  called. 

FREDERICK  F.  SHANNON,   P.P. 

The  New  Personality  and  Other  Sermons 

i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.00. 

Mr.  Shannon,  pastor  of  the  Reformed  Church  on  the 
Heights,  Brooklyn,  is  possessed  of  lofty  ideals,  is  purpose- 
ful, more  than  ordinarily  eloquent  and  has  the  undoubted 
gifts  of  felicitous  and  epigrammatic  expression.  This  new  vol- 
ume by  the  popular  preacher  is  a  contribution  of  distinct  valu* 
:o  current  lermonic  literature. 


EARLIER  WORKS  IN  DEMAND 

WAYNE  WHIPPLE 

The  Story-Life  of  the  Son  of  Man 

8vo,  illustrated,  net  $2.50. 

"A  literary  mosaic,  consisting-  of  quotations  from  a  great 
number  of  writers  concerning  all  the  events  of  the  Gospels. 
The  sub-title  accurately  describes  its  contents.  That  sub- 
title is  'Nearly  a  thousand  stories  from  sacred  and  secular 
sources  in  a  continuous  and  complete  chronicle  of  the  earth 
life  of  the  Saviour.'  The  book  was  prepared  for  the  general 
reader,  but  will  be  valuable  to  minister,  teacher  and  student. 
There  are  many  full-page  engravings  from  historic  paintings 
and  sacred  originals,  some  reproduced  for  the  first  time,"— 
Christian  Observer. 

GAIUS  GLENN  ATKINS,  P.P. 

Pilgrims  of  the  Lonely  Road 

i2mo,  cloth,  net  $i.5o. 

"A  rare  book  for  its  style,  its  theme  and  the  richness  of 
its  insight.  Seldom  is  seen  a  book  of  more  exquisite  grace 
of  diction — happy  surprises  of  phrase,  and  lovely  lengths  of 
haunting  prose  to  delight  the  eye.  Each  of  the  great  pil- 
grim's studies  is  followed  step  by  step  along  the  lonely  way 
of  the  soul  in  its  quest  of  light,  toward  the  common  goal  of 
all — union  with  the  eternal." — Chicago  Record-Herald. 

S.  P.  GORPON 

Quiet  Talks  on  Following  The  Chri^ 

i2mo,  cloth,  net  8sc. 

"This  volume  is  well  calculated  to  aid  in  Christian  life,  to 
5ive  strength,  courage  and  light  on  difficult  problems.  It 
grips  one's  very  life,  brings  one  face  to  face  with  God's 
word,  ways  of  understanding  it  and,  even  its  every  day  ap- 
plication. It  is  plain,  clear,  direct,  no  confusion  of  dark 
sentences." — Bapt.  Observer. 

G.  CAMPBELL  MORGAN,  P.P. 

The  Teaching  of  Chri^ 

A  Companion  Volume  to  "The  Crises  of  The 
Christ."    8vo,  cloth,  net  $1.75. 

"One  does  not  read  far  before  he  is  amazed  at  the  clear  and 
logical  grasp  Dr.  Morgan  has  upon  divine  truths.  Could  a 
copy  of  this  book,  with  its  marvelous  insight,  its  straightfor- 
wardness, its  masterly  appeal,  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  our 
church  leaders,  it  would  go  far  toward  negativing  the  spir- 
itual barrenness  of  destructive  criticism.  Here  is  a  work 
that  may  profitably  occupy  a  prominent  place  in  the  minister's 
library." — Augsburg   Teacher, 

ZE PEINE  HUMPHREY 

The  Edge  of  the  Woods  And  other  papers 

i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.25. 

"Sane  optimism,  an  appreciation  of  the  beautiful  and  a 
delicate  humor  pervades  the  book  which  is  one  for  lovers  of 
real  literature  to  enjoy." — Pittsburgh  Post. 


BIBLE  STUDY 


REF.   MARTIN  ANSTEY,  M.A. 

How  to  Understand  the  Bible 

An  Exposition  of  the  Method,  a  Demonstration  of 
the  Power,  and  a  Revelation  of  the  Joy  of  Bible 
Study.     i2mo.  cloth,  net  $i.oo. 

A  book  presenting  seven  methods  of  Bible  study,  and  fur- 
nishing an  appraisement  of  the  respective  value  and  spiritual 
fruitfulness  of  each.  The  author's  attitude  towards  questions 
of  inspiration,  historicity,  criticism,  etc.,  is  that  the  Bible  is 
the  unassailable  revelation  of  the  mind  and  will  of  God. 

WILLIAM  EVANS,  g.D. 

Epochs  in  the  Life  of  Chri^ 

By  the  Associate  Dean  of  Bible  Institute,  Los  An- 
geles.    i2mo,  cloth,  net  $i.oo. 

A  scries  of  addresses,  given  on  Sunday  afternoon  to  large 
audiences,  dealing-  with  the  Birth,  Baptism,  Temptation. 
Transfiguration,  Death  and  Resurrection  of  our  Lord,  ana 
presenting  cogent  and  concrete  arguments  for  their  inviola- 
bility and  acceptance  as  chief  among  the  tenets  of  the  Cliris- 
tian  faiths.  Couched  in  popular  language  and  presented  in 
popular  style. 

THROUGH  THE  BIBLE.  BOOK  BY  BOOK 

The  Book  of  Genesis 

i2mo,  cloth,  net  .50c. 

The  Gospel  and  The  Acts 

i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.25. 

The  Books  of  The  Pentateuch 

i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.25. 

"The  practical  and  popular  expositions  of  the  Scriptures 
contained  in  this  volume  have  been  but  slightly  altered  in 
form  from  that  in  which  they  were  delivered  to  the  audiences 
constituting  the  Popular  Bible  Classes.  The  aim  of  these  ex- 
positions was  to  popularize  Bible  study.  That  this  aim  has 
been  realized  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  at  seven  o'clock 
each  Friday  night,  from  one  thousand  to  fifteen  hundred 
people  have  met  together  for  this  form  of  Bible  study." — 
Preface. 

REV.  CLARENCE  EDWARD  MACARTNEY 

The  Parables  of  the  Old  Testament 

i2mo,  cloth,  net  75c. 

"A  volume  of  rare  interest,  breaking  comparatively  new,  un- 
traversed  ground.  The  great  allegories  cotitained  in  the  Old 
Testament  are  searchingly  analyzed  and  gpren  a  new  lig- 
nificance  and  spiritual  interpretation." — Chrtslian  Work. 


BIBLE  STUDY 


EDfFARD   AUGUSTUS  GEORGE 

The  Twelve  :  Apostolic  Types  of  Christian  Men 
i2mo,  cloth,  net  $i.iS- 

"Under  his  living  touch  the  apostles  seem  very  much  like 
the  men  we  know  and  their  problems  not  dissimilar  to  our 
own." — Congregationatist. 

PROF.  IV.   G.    MOOREHEAD 
OUTLINE  STUDIES  in  the  NEW  TESTAMENT  SERIES 

The  Catholic  Epistles  and  Revelation 

In  One  Volume.    New  Edition.     i2mo,  net  $1.20 

Containing  James,  I  and  II  Peter,  I,  II  and  III  John,  and 
Jude,  and  the  Book  of  Revelation. 

ALEXANDER    CRUDEN 

Complete  Concordance 

Large  8vo,  cloth,  net  $1.25. 

New  Unabridged  Edition,  with  the  Table  of  Proper  Names 
entirely  revised  and  mistranslations  in  the  meanings  cor- 
rected, many  suggestive  notes. 

WILLIAM  SMITH,  LLP. 

A  Dictionary  of  the  Bible 

Its  Antiquities,  Biography,  Geography  and  Nat- 
ural History,  with  Numerous  Illustrations  and  Maps. 
A  New  Worker's  Edition.    776  pages.    Net  $1.25. 

NEIV  THIN  PAPER  EDITION 

The  Boy  Scouts*  Twentieth  Century 
New  Testament 

Officially  authorized  by  the  Boy  Scouts'  of  Amer- 
ica.   New  Thin  Paper  Edition. 

181.  i6mo,  khaki  cloth,  net  Bsc. 

182.  l6mo,  ooze  leather,  khaki  color,  net  $1.50. 
Contains    an    introduction    by    the    Executive    Board,    tk« 

Scouts'  Oath,  and  the  Scoutt'  Law. 

HENRY  T.  SELL,  D.D.  (Editor)  Au,h>r>/ 

XX  Century  Story  of  the  Chri^ 

i2mo,  cloth,  net  6oc. 

From  the  text  of  The  Twentieth  Century  New  Testament, 
Dr.  Sell  has  completed  a  Harrnony  of  The  Gospels  which, 
while  studiously  avoiding  repetition  omits  no  important  word 
ia  the  fourfold  record  of  the  earthly  life  and  teaching  of  our 
Lord.  He  has  done  his  work  well,  and  the  result  is  a  com- 
pilation specially  designed  and  adapted  for  the  use  of  the 
average  reader 


BIBLE  STUDY,  DEVOTIONAL,  Etc. 


y1.     T. 


Studies  in  the  New  Testament 

A  Handbook  for  Bible  Classes  in  Sunday  Schools, 
for  Teacher  Training  Work,  for  use  in  Secondary 
Schools  and  Colleges.     i2mo,  cloth,  net  50c. 

In  it  are  no  references  to  books  of  any  kind  outside  the 
Bible.  With  the  help  (if  the  maps  and  a  New  Testament  one 
can  study  this  work  iciZ/t  no  other  books  in  hand. 

REV.   JOSEPH  T.  GIBSON,   P.P. 

Jesus  Chri^  :   The  Unique  Revealer  of  God 

8vo,  cloth,  $1.50. 

The  author  has  sought  to  see,  and  aid  others  in  seeing 
Jesus  Christ  as  He  is  presented  in  the  Scriptures.  He  has 
compiled  a  "Life"  neither  critical  nor  iconoclastic,  but  de- 
signed for  those  who  regard  the  Word  of  God  as  being  not 
only  the  infalliable  guide  to  faith  and  duty,  but  the  authentic 
chronicle  of  the  earthly  life  of  our  L-ord.  Dr.  Gibson  has 
harmonized  the  Gospels  and  from  them  constructed  a  graphic 
narrative  which,  contrives,  to  re-limn  an  old  picture  with 
freshness  and  charm. 

REV.    GEO.    H.    YOUNG,  M.A.,  AssU  Prof.  Rh,Uric  and  Publl, 

^^——^-^——-^—^^—^-^^———    Spiakine,  Ctltatt  Univtriity 

The  Illustrative  Teachings  of  Jesus 

The  Parables,  Similies  and  Metaphors  of  Christ. 
I2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.00. 

"A  most  readable  and  practical  treatment  of  the  methods 
of  the  Master  for  the  general  Bible  student  and  Christian 
worker.  A  valuable  contribution  to  one's  conception  of  Jesus 
as  the  'Teacher  come  from  God,'  and  revealing  in  life,  con- 
tent of  instruction  and  method  of  presentation  the  will  of 
the  Father." — Review  and  E.vpositor, 

ir.  BEATTY  JENNINGS,    P.P. 


The  Social  Teachings  of  Chri^  Jesus 

A  Manual  for  Bible  Classes,  Christian  Associa- 
tions, Social  Study  Groups,  etc.    i6mo,  cloth,  net  50c. 

In  a  series  of  twenty  studies,  the  teachings  of  Jesus  are  ap- 
plied to  specific  social  sins  and  needs  of  to-day,  such  as  poverty, 
pleasure,  war,  the  drink  traffic,  etc.,  and_  shown  to  be  the  sure 
and  only  solution  of  the  problems  of  society. 

ROBERT  FREEMAN 

The  Hour  of  Prayer 

Helps  to  Devotion  When  Absent  from  Church. 
l2mo,  cloth,  net  7Sc. 

"A  volume  of  reverent  purpose  designed  especially  for 
those  who  wish  some  form  of  Sunday  observance,  or  who,  by 
stress  of  circumstances,  are  prevented  from  attending  serv- 
ices in  the  churches.  To  shut-ins,  mothers  with  young  chil- 
dren, nurses  and  others  who  are  unable  to  attend  public  wor- 
ship, the  book  will  particularly  appeal." — Buffalo  Express, 


